


Threads to Wonderland

by ichselbst



Series: The threads that ties me to you [1]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst and Feels, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, One-Sided Attraction, Romance, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 00:06:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 25,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14092686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichselbst/pseuds/ichselbst
Summary: It always felt like there was a part missing in you. You always longed for it, dreamed of a magical Wonderland since your childhood in hopes of finding the missing piece of puzzle. There was always the thread flowing through the air, just there out of reach for you. Until one day when you met the rabbit on a party and got kidnapped into a world that was too smiliar from the one in your dreams.Mystic Messenger meets Alice in Wonderland - AU





	1. Part 1 - The Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my two-shot. It was originally planned as a oe-shot but I got too long so I figured to split it. This is a birthday present for my online friend who wished the Alice in Wonderland AU. I took some liberties to create a story of my own but picked the basic plot points from the first "Alice in Wonderland" movie by Tim Burton. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Small warning for implied drug use!

Once upon a time there was kingdom in a land far away, yet still within reach of of one’s dream. It was as bright as the sun shining down on a summer’s day and as colourful as being kissed by a rainbow. People were humming on the streets, children running around with laughter as innocent as their hearts. Even animals in their purest forms found their way into the city every day. People and the mythical creatures went together hand in hand, living a life in peace and harmony.

The king and the queen were loved by their folk, their children admired and blessed. They seeked for the day their eldest daughter would inherit the crown as she promised for a even better life than they already had. Her little brother always held her in high regards, falling for the green eyes and the angelic smile. Her words were blessing to his ears, her voice like a sweet angel whispering prayers to him.

People were listening to her wise words in the town’s centre, grateful for her serene voice. Amidst the crowd sat two young boys, holding hands and waiting for someone. Their golden eyes were bright as the sun, yet darkened by stains of corruption. The smaller one licked on a sweet, hiding his face from the others. The other one listened to her majesty’s speech, his hand correcting the eccentric hat sitting on his head. A shadow fell over them and took away the sun, making them looking up at the man standing in front of them. The older child began smiling when their eyes locked, their lips mirroring each other. His mint green eyes lit up when he handed them the sweet pastries he just bought and their faces brightened up. The wind tousled their hairs, whipping off the eccentric hat from the bright red thatch. The man’s hand reached for the hat as fast as he could, unfortunately not saving it from vanishing into the crowd. Just in this moment, green eyes locked with each other and love was born from first sight.

The bright red head with golden eyes followed his hat into the crowd, catching it as quickly as he could. He was about to grab the hat when suddenly someone else handed it to him. He took it gratefully in his hand, clasping it at his chest while thanking the person. A child’s laughter was his response and bright eyes locked with golden ones, a moment as magical as the one before.

 

It was just then when you woke up from your dream, breathing heavily and sweat dripping down from your forehead. It was dark in here, no sun, no moon. The walls were bald, the room as naked as it could get. The coldness creeped under your blanket, taking away the heat you emanated. It was a dream, one of many dreams you had since childhood. Dreams that were as sweet as a kiss from a blessed angel, as bitter as the downfall from heaven. A bitter-sweet symphony, playing the notes you danced to its tune your whole life long. Scary and big people with masks listening to you but not really _listening_. You could hear their whispers, see their judging stares and feel the coldness coating you. Darkness befell you and sighed into your ears, the only one believing you. They claimed you crazy, you withstood. They locked you away, you withstood. They broke you, you believed them. They threw you away onto the streets again, you surrendered yourself to the darkness. The sin was inside you, eating you away bit by bit.

_Just to get the feeling back of what was missing in you._

You couldn’t remember why they called you crazy. You couldn’t care less about their opinions. But you cared about your mother and loved her dearly, fulfilling her every wish you could. She held you dear and didn’t try to expect too much from you, but there was only so much you could do for her. You dedicated your life for her; studying diligent, listening to her wise words and accepting her suggestions on possible future partners. Your heart was never open for the world of men, marriage and love. It was like it was stolen a long time ago from warm and shy hands; a ghost you never heard talking more than a prayer for coming back to him. With every new man you broke your mother’s heart when you couldn’t open yourself to him and let yourself be loved.

You broke your mother’s heart every night when you stole away from home, letting the darkness guide you to your next destination. The cold air felt fresh in your lungs, sending shivers down your spine. Your heart beat in your chest evenly, the calmness took over your body. So sweet. So bitter. Your ears picked up a beat, a fast look on your smartphone confirming that you were almost there. You could smell the sin of smoke in the air, you could hear the drums that interfered with your own symphony, you could see colours that weren’t even there. You longed for the ecstasy to control your body even though you promised mother to never do it again.

_But you always needed it after your dreams of a land full of wonders._

You entered the sordid house, the door out of its angles and the people drunk and high. The music blasted through the boxes, the alcohol seeping into the carpet and smelling of vomit. You saw the world in front of you in hues of green, grey and black, people blending together and becoming one on the dance floor. It disgusted you to a certain degree, seeing them laying on the floor, passed out, half-naked and covered in bodily fluids. You stepped over them, searching for someone, _something_. You just needed it and then you could go away, hide somewhere dark and dream of a world better than this one. A world once promised to you, as beautiful as a fairy tale, free of darkness and full of light.

Something else piqued your curiosity. Amidst the green and black crowd was a young man, his mint green eyes piercing right through you. He stared at you and captured your sight, nearing you with a predatory smile. Fear kicked in but you couldn’t move. There was something in his eyes. Something that knocked the breath out of your chest, something that screamed in your mind but couldn’t grasp it. He stood directly in front of you, looking down with a smile twisted as the darkness itself, the madness seeping through his eyes bit by bit. You should’ve run before he grasped you, leaning down and whispering words of an offer you couldn’t deny. His fingers stroke your arms, his right hand wandered up to your neck and grasped your hair. He pulled at them, tilting your head up as he leaned even more over you. It felt like a dance only one of you wanted to dance, his music out of tune and dissonant, corrupting your own. You wanted to ask so many things but didn’t know what. You just stared at his green eyes that felt so familiar and yet so wrong at the same time, you stared at his bright white hair feeling a similar sensation. But what took your breath eventually was the faint gleam above his head, forming rabbit ears coming out of his hair.

“We don’t have enough time,” he whispered in your ear again, sending down a shiver of fear and arousal at the same time down your spine. He suddenly laid his thumb on your lip, using your speechlessness to pry them open. He neared your face, his lips touching yours, feeling chapped and cold. His tongue entered your mouth, tapping onto yours and setting down a pill on them. He pulled back quickly after he’d give you the pill, watching you with dark eyes. The taste was foreign and strange, although didn’t all pills taste strange when you took them? You felt like his prey under his stare, feeling the tiredness creeping up on your limbs, your breathing coming slower and slower until your eyes closed themselves. In your last wake moment you wondered if he gave you the happy pill you expected or if your naïvety would now take its toll.

 

_Everything was blurred. Red, green and blue swam together, a white light pouring out of them. It blinded you, your eyes hurt. Your mind felt like exploding, watching the colours whirling around you, trying to catch you. You were falling. You felt the wind on your skin, drifting through your fingers that were searching for something... for anything to grab for. A thread, you thought. You reached up, the light swallowed up by the darkness, your faithful companion. You couldn’t feel the panic, you couldn’t hear your heart beating, you could only see the rainbow being absorbed by the shadows, corrupting the light at the same time. Your mouth opened, you wanted to say, to scream but nothing came out. It felt like a dream, a silent dream turning into a black and white illusion ripping you away from your world into a dark one. Did the world stop turning? Everything was so slow, like time slowed down to let you realise what was happening. But you couldn’t grasp it. You couldn’t grasp neither reality nor truth. It slipped away as soon as you believed to feel it. You could only touch on its surface. You couldn’t understand. Why did time stop?_

Because we don’t have enough time anymore, _whispered a voice. His voice._

_Your eyes widened. Time turned back to normal. You were falling down, faster. Panic soared through your veins, your heart couldn’t beat fast enough. Your scream echoed loudly and ringed your ears. The darkness threatened you. You wanted to give yourself to it, give yourself to the salvation of death it promised; but light came as your saviour, swallowing you from behind. You collided with something, knocking your breath out, your eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Everything hurt. Everything was so bright._

_It had to be another dream._

 

Again the moment when you woke up, awake with a start and the need to gasp for air. You felt like drowning but finally reached the surface. Air, such precious air. The sweat dripped down from your chin, goose bumps on your skin from the coldness you felt. This felt so right but so wrong at the same time. Almost as if you arrived at your destination but was still at the train station. You needed to go somewhere, you needed to be somewhere.

Confusion formed in your mind as your eyes scanned the room you was in. No door, no entrance, just a mirror on the wall. A table in the middle, a lonely blue rose sitting on it. You stood up with trembling legs, your knees feeling like jelly. You didn’t hurt anymore, you only had the unsettling feeling of something you couldn’t describe. You needed to get out of here before he would come back. Was he even here to begin with?

Your eyes found a door, a tiny door on the floor, secured with a golden lock. You rattled at the door, hoping it would open soon. Turning back to the table, a glass bottle caught your eye. A note was attached to it, spelling “Drink me” on it. You didn’t think twice about it as you drank the blue liquid out of it, the taste somewhat flowery and sweet. The bitterness swept in as you began trembling in every limb, the shaking making you drop the glass bottle. It shattered into hundred broken pieces, mirroring your panicked expression when your body began to shrink. You reached up again, gasping as you were swallowed by your clothes.

You found your way out of the labyrinth your clothes created, seeing light again. A new dress was wrapped around you now, shielding your nakedness from god’s prying eyes. You ran towards the door, remembering that you still needed a key. You pulled and pushed again, your efforts in vain. You needed to think more clearly, looking around to search for a key. The sparkle of golden metal caught your attention and your heart sank when you realised it sat on the table.

You ran back to the table, trying to climb its leg. You didn’t even try properly as you could never reach the top this way. The smell of something sweet seduced your nose, watering your mouth as your stomach churned in hunger. You followed the scent to its origin, a piece of cake sitting there lonely on the floor. Your eyes were as big as the cake itself that exceeded you with surprising ease. “Eat me” was written on it. You spread your arms to hug the cake, dipping your head into it full faced. You opened your mouth as wide as you could, eating away the cake piece by piece. You felt the same strange feeling again, the tremble, the soaring heartbeats, the bittersweet taste...

Before you could comprehend what happened, the cake was sitting in your palm, not bigger than the tip of your finger. Your whole body was bent forward, trapped in this too small room for your suddenly giant body. You took the chance to grab the key, adrenaline shooting through your veins. Your finger clumsily tried to enter the key into the lock, eventually achieving on the third try. You grabbed another glass bottle that stood on the table and drank it again. You were sure it wasn’t there before but hoped it would shrink you again.

Back to your dwarf size, you ran towards the door on the floor, gasping as you saw a world through the hole that you didn’t know how to enter. You looked down through it but looked forward in the world on the other side. How was it possible? You were sure that you already woke up but this had to be a dream. It felt so real though. You reached through the door, feeling the warmness pulling you into it. You fell down and stepped into the foreign world that filled you with so many things.

 

You felt alive. The darkness stayed behind the door, your symphony in-tune with the birds singing in the sky. A sky full with so many colours that only a rainbow could contain more. It was drawn like a picture, the landscape as magical as only your dreams could be. This had to be a dream. A drug-created illusion by your mind. It was the world you longed for so long, that people called you crazy for. You remembered the smell, the taste, the feeling and yet you felt like something was still missing. It wasn’t as bright as in your dreams. It felt like an illusion once more.

Something was wrong, you felt that in your deepest core and nonetheless, your heart screamed for its missing piece. And for the first time you felt like you could finally find it. You lifted the skirt of your dress, running into the foreign world that would lead you somewhere you wanted to be.

The sight of white and pink hair caught your eye. Rabbit ears poked out from his hair, his nose twitching as if it was trying to perceive a certain smell. The rabbit turned, the golden clock in his hands stirring something in your mind and heart. However, it was his mint green eyes that knocked the breath out of you once more, pictures of the dangerous man from before flashing in your inner eye. You ran towards him.

“Hey!” you called him and waved. You only saw his eyes widen in curiosity, his nose twitching even more. He didn’t run away like you anticipated but a faint blush appeared on his face. That moment you realised that he was a human being with rabbit ears and whiskers, dressed in a magenta coloured suit. He looked so much more innocent than the man before, so much younger than him. He stared at you with big eyes when you finally arrived, catching your breath from your sprint. “Are you the guy from before? On the party? Who gave me the pill?”

He only continued staring at you, his nose twitching. He looked again at his clock, nervousness creeping up on his face. “I don’t have enough time,” he said blankly and was about to turn around when you grabbed his arm. You had a realisation again. He was a head taller than you. The faint blush on his cheeks reddened even more. “Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about.” The clock ticked. Seconds passed as you were the one staring at him. He freed himself from your grasp and righted his lapels. “If you excuse me now…”

You let him go, eyeing him thoughtfully. The faint feeling of a thread waving through the air. That was when you decided to follow him because you didn’t know where else to go to. He was fast on his legs, you noticed jumps in his steps. Was it because he was happy? Or because he was… a rabbit? You shook your head, it was clearly impossible that he was a mythical creature. You were curious why he looked like your kidnapper.

Your environment changed drastically. Before, it was full of flowers, a beautifully coloured sky and grass fresh and green. Now, it all faded into black and white, the living beings on the brink of death, flowers withered, no birds chirping anymore. It felt like a bad omen.

“Oh no!” You couldn’t find the rabbit anymore. He had been just in front of you and next moment he was gone. What did happen? Where did he go to? You searched for him desperately, running around in circles. You didn’t know where you were. Where you could go to. What should you do now?

You stopped just in time. There was a hole in front of you, wide enough for a person to fall into. You looked down the hole, wondering where it led to. Maybe it brought you back home? You frowned at the thought of going home, your mother probably was sick with worry for you.

You wanted to get up and search your way again when suddenly, someone grabbed your shoulders from behind, a warm breath next to your ears. A chuckle you already heard once. Your body stilled, you didn’t try to move. You were scared stiff. The deep voice, speaking in riddles before, said “Have a good trip” before pushing you down.

You were falling again, down and down through the hole. Looking up while falling, you saw two heads looking so alike and yet so different, it only caused the confusion to grow. Their heads became smaller and smaller until you couldn’t see them anymore, the panic in your body making you scream even more.

 

You landed softer this time. Your arms were caught in ropes, something feathered your fall. You opened your eyes, identifying the ropes as a part of a trap. A trap that you were caught with. Did they push you down to capture you? What was happening? You tried to sit up, wiggling through the ropes until something stinged your back and you yelped. You pulled yourself up with the ropes, looking down. Your mouth fell slightly open when you saw the tiny mouse standing in front of you, stemming her tiny arms onto her hips like a proud knight. It was more the clothes, the sword, the glasses, the face and brown hair that surprised you because the mouse looked more human than beastly. Like the rabbit before.

“You aren’t the rabbit,” the mouse deadpanned and sighed. Its voice was so feminine and squeaky that it got a chuckle out of you. The mouse just stabbed you again with its tiny sword. “Hold your tongue, stranger!” You couldn’t. The laughter poured out of you like a waterfall, you couldn’t control it. The mouse crossed its arms in front of her, it seemed like it was pouting. “Reveal yourself, tiny human!”

_Tiny?_

That moment you realised you didn’t eat or drink something to get back to your normal size. The mouse wasn’t tiny at all since it was the same height as you. “What…?” What was going on now? Why did everything seems to be so normal but then so strange and surreal at the same time? This had to be a dream. Or you fell on your head really hard.

The sword was shoved nearly into your face, touching your nose. You jumped out of your skin, trying to escape it but couldn’t find any stability in this net. You tried to raise your arms defensively, an innocent grin forming on your lips. “I-I am lost. I-I d-don’t know how I got h-here.”

The mouse eyed you warily, withdrawing its sword slowly. Suddenly, it slashed out again, cutting all the ropes around you. You were just glad that it didn’t hurt you. It offered you a hand when you sat on the floor. You accepted with a grateful smile. “My name is Jaehee,” the mouse introduced herself with a bow.

A faint flush creeped on your cheeks as you saw her kind smile. “How come you are wearing mouse ears and a tail?” Your fingers mimicked the traits on your own body, the curiosity stronger than your manners.

Jaehee looked confused as she stepped towards you. “Those are parts of my body.” She took your hands in her, your heart failing for a few seconds until you suddenly was cuffed with ropes. “I don’t know who you are but it is best to bring you to the caterpillar.” _What?_ “He will decide what to do with you.” _Again, what?_

“A-a caterpillar?” You were pulled by Jaehee in the direction she took you, being ignored from then on.

You tried to summarise what happened to you in your mind. First, you were on a party where you met a probably insane person with rabbit ears who drugged you. You woke up falling down into a room with only one tiny door that you could reach only after growing up and shrinking down by eating or drinking something. Then You found yourself in a strange world where you saw another person with rabbit ears that looked identical to the one before. You followed him but got pushed down a hole, again, where you got caught by a woman who was actually half a mouse. This could only be the effect of the drug or one for your crazy dreams. It still felt too real.

 

After a long, long travel Jaehee and you arrived in a jungle full of flowers that towered over both of you. There were so many of them, big like trees and shielding the burning sun from you. Fog made it harder to see anything and became denser the more you went into the forest. You could hear a chuckle next to your ear that made you jump out of your skin but when you looked into the direction it came from, there wasn’t anything. Jaehee dragged you still forward, both of you wading through some water suddenly. It was like this world didn’t follow any rules, it just existed like it wanted to.

Suddenly, Jaehee stopped in front of a flower. There stood two round women looking alike in front of it, discussing about something. One had brown hair, the other one’s pink. Their bodies were oval formed, their clothes the same. Somehow, they discussed who could be the perfect partner for the caterpillar. You stopped questioning things by now.

The flower turned towards you, opening its petals to reveal someone inside it. Your breath was caught in your throat as a tall and handsome man emerged from the flower, black hair falling into his face. Two antennae rose from his head, in his hand was sitting a wine glass full with red liquid. He was sitting on a throne, his grey eyes falling onto you. He looked beautiful and you wondered how this man could be a caterpillar. The women fawned by his sight and stopped quarreling.

Jaehee stepped towards him, her eyes fierce. “I brought an intruder. She foiled our plan of catching the rabbit.”

The caterpillar rose up from his throne, leaving his glass behind. He stepped down the steps, passed the eggs and Jaehee and went straight towards you. You unconsciously took a step back and felt intimidated by the taller man who stopped only a few inches before you. He put his fingers under your chin, raising your head so your eyes could lock with his. He had a thoughtful and cold expression on his face, his very beautiful face. Your cheeks must be red as a tomato but you couldn’t bring yourself to stop looking at him. His fingers wandered from your chin to put a strand of hair behind your ears. This was nearly the same situation as with the madman from the party. He had towered you in a similar way but looked hungrier at you than the caterpillar.

All of a sudden, the caterpillar drew back and gave you space to breath before he turned towards the women and motioned them to do something. They just looked confused at him. “The prophecy?” At that, both understood and began running around, searching it for a few seconds. Nothing was found.

A chuckle echoed next to your ear, making you jump again. Suddenly, a white cat with a wide grin and capturing blue eyes appeared out of nowhere, flowing through the air. In its paws it held a scroll that the caterpillar eyed curiously. The cat presented it the caterpillar, giggling again. “The prophecy, Jumin.”

The caterpillar, Jumin, nodded and took the scroll, opening it casually between his hands. “Thank you, Elizabeth the 3rd. I can rely on you als always unlike those two dumb…” he trailed off. He read the scroll with cold eyes, yours snatching towards Jaehee who is reading behind Jumin’s shoulders.

“Do you think…?” Jaehee asked before looking from the document to you and back. Jumin just rolled it back together, crossing his arms behind his back.

“Yes, I think so,” he said coolly. Something fierce awoke in his eyes and a small smile played on his lips. Especially after he detected the confusion on your face. “Tell me, who are you?”

You didn’t know how to answer. You opened your mouth to answer with your name but the sound of a beastly roar cut you off. It startled you and made the others jump. You saw panic written on the women’s faces except for Jaehee’s, she just drew her sword and looked grimly. Jumin retreated hastily back towards the flower, his hand dragging you behind by your wrist. The white cat flowed in front of you both, staring with wide eyes right into your soul.

The roar resounded again, this time louder and more threatening. Jumin started to run towards the flower field instead, clutching your wrist tighter in his hand. Elizabeth sat down on your head, meowing to get Jumin’s attention. “We are not fast enough in our tiny state.”

“We’re dead otherwise!” he retorted. Jumin ducked down to avoid the leaves of the camellia and carnation bushes, giving you less time to react to them yourself. Elizabeth dodged them easily, her look becoming more worried the louder the roar became.

Heavy steps shook the ground. You looked behind, a flash of white fur catching your eye. It was screaming hungrily, another feminine cry sounding through the forest. The white thing shot past you, Jumin stopping right in his tracks. He tugged you behind himself, shielding you from the beast. You looked past his arm, your eyes widening when you caught sight of it, a white, gigantic beast with sharp teeths and death eyes. Jaehee hung from her sword that sticked in the beast’s eye. A scream of horror was caught in your throat.

Suddenly, Jumin pushed you into another direction, Elizabeth dragging you further away from them. “Run!” Jumin cried before drawing his own sword made of vines, like a soldier that awaited this day from long. You saw Jaehee plucking the eye out of it. You turned back to look forwards, trying to stop yourself from vomiting.

“What was this beast?!” you asked Elizabeth in horror. You were worried about Jumin and Jaehee, they had saved your life. You had hoped to get answers to the many the questions you had but now, you were running for your life, just doing what people told you to do.

Elizabeth looked grimly at you, falling back to fly next to you. “This beast is called the Bandersnatch,” it explained in a whisper, “it is the most dangerous creature the Mint Queen possesses, right after the Jabberwocky.”

“Jabberwocky?” you repeated hallowly.

“The dragon that…” Elizabeth trailed off, looking even more grimly than before at you. “It killed many of us before and we are the only one left to rescue our true king.”

“True king?”

“The kindest and naïvest man of the whole world.” Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, looking at you with a fierce expression. “You came back to save us all, right?”

You hesitated to answer. You came back? Like this dream was real? What in the world was going on? “I-I don’t understand! I was given a pill by this strange man and next thing I know I am here and I have no idea what on earth is happening. I just want to get answer. I want to know how to wake up from my dreams. Oh, I didn’t try this.” You reached up to pinch your arm with your eyes closed but just saw the cat’s confused face when you opened them again. “Usually this worked. This is just a world I know from my dreams, this isn’t real.” You looked around at the decayed the world. You could have sworn that it was once a colourful world, a melody so sweet it made your heart dance just by thinking about it. “This isn’t real,” you muttered again with a sunken heart.

Elizabeth floated towards you, stopping right in front of you. Her eyes were heavy with sadness, lament enveloping her aura. “Please help us,” she pleaded in a whisper. You reached up to pat her head, her fur so soft. She purred and closed her eyes, enjoying your soft touch.

“I don’t know how.”

Elizabeth led you to a big flower, asked you to sit down in the middle of it. “It will bring you to someone who would love to answer you all of your questions,” were her last words before she vanished into thin air. Suddenly, the flower snapped and catapulted you into the air.

 

Falling again.

From the air, you could see the whole land. You could see lonely colorful flower fields, surrounded by grey and death areas. You could see a palace from afar, the mint green so striking in colour. It reminded you of the rabbits eye. You began falling down towards a colourful place, the nearer you got, the more you could see. It looked like a tea party with odd figures.

You ended up in a teakettle, drowning in the brown liquid. You heard gasps before you reached the water. You tried to swim up to the surface but the kettle moved and the waves drowned you again. Two big fingers grabbed you by your skirt, lifting you up. You breathed the air hastily in and out as soon as you got it, hanging upside down in front of three pairs of curious eyes. You coughed and tried to listen in the murmurs of the people.

“Hello, tiny human,” greeted you a voice from in front of you. You opened your eyes again, wanting to reply something, but your heart stopped the moment you looked into golden orbs bright as the sun. They were so big and beautiful, you never saw something more beautiful than before. It felt right looking into them, better than mint-green ones.

“Hello,” you squeaked after a few seconds.

The person erupted in laughter together with the other ones, setting you down on the table as well. He lowered his head and set it on the table, observing you with an amused look. He was the first happy looking person here, you noticed. His lips formed a bright smile, his finger poking you cautiously.

“S-Stop it!” you told him and held your sides defensively, his laughter echoing once more.

“So cute!” he squealed with pleasure as you huffed your reddened cheeks.

“I was told you could answer my questions,” you said with full confidence. You even stemmed your hands on your hips, realising with a grimace that you were drenched with tea.

“Hold on.” The guy with the eccentric hat began searching for something in his pockets. His tongue peeked out from his mouth until he held a dress in front of you. It had the perfect size.

“Thank you,” you took it from him and held it onto your chest. He motioned to an empty cup that he turned around for you as a place to get dressed.

In fresh clothes, you tried once again to get answers.

 

“Ah, so Elly told you to ask me~?” he sang delightful while crafting you a place to seat. His tongue peeked out from his mouth while concentrating on the task at hands. You were oddly fascinated by the man’s appearance, beginning with the bright red hair, the golden eyes and the colourful outfit that matched his hat.

“Ah, yes…” You took a seat he offered you after finishing his crafting. It wasn’t comfortable per se but it had its own charme. “The caterpillar said something about a prophecy but he couldn’t explain because this giant monster attacked us. I think it was…” You laid your hand on your mouth while thinking, trying to remember the name. “The Bander-something?”

“Bandersnatch?” squealed someone behind you. You turned around and recognized it as a cat with a rather long body and a dotted bow-tie. The cat’s eye were somehow lifeless, the face twisted with fear.

You nodded in agreement and turned back as the man hummed in thoughts. He laid his finger on his chin, his brows knitted together in worry. “I’m sure Jaehee will beat the daylight out of it but hopefully they get out safely.” He picked up his mug and set it on his lips, taking a slow sip of tea. “And my dear Elly sent you to me, hmm~?”

Now he looked rather intrigued than worried, scrutinizing you with his eyes. A smile played on his lips, hidden behind the porcelain mug. He had something playful in his eyes, brightness and darkness at the same time. As if he was hiding his pain behind his happiness. You couldn’t stop staring at him, something in you stirred alive at his sight. As if you found a piece of puzzle you couldn’t place into its place. A thread flowing through the sky, unreachable und barely visible.

“What is your name?” he suddenly inquired curiously and set down the mug right next to you. You felt somehow trapped between him and the dishes as he stared at you. Something lit up in his eyes, was this hope you could spot?

“Well,” you began while looking around and eyeing the cat and the other boy at this table before turning back to the man in front of you, “you never told me your name, so I don’t know why I should tell you mine.”

He chuckled and leaned forward on his arms, leveling his eyes to yours. “People call me Mad Hatter.” He wiggled with his finger in front of your face even though his finger alone was as big as you. “But my friends call me Seven. Or Luciel. I prefer Seven though.”

“And yet it doesn’t sound like your true name,” you challenged him courageous. You crossed your arms in front of your chest, not once breaking off the eye contact. A bright grin spread on his lips as he leaned back into his chair, his hand grabbing the edge of his hat in defeat. “Then Seven should it be.”

He laughed brightly at your response, a sound as melodic as your own that you couldn’t contain anymore. Something broke loose in you as you revelled in the moment where you began accepting this twisted fantasy as your world right now. You couldn’t care less about the reality of it if it meant that you could listen to his laughter all day. He felt like a rainbow on a canvas full of grey, like a serenade brightening the darkness you tried to leave behind.

Suddenly, the ground beneath you began shaking, hooves stamping on the floor echoed through the air. A look of panic flicked through Seven’s face, disappearing as fast as it came. He grabbed you by the hem of your dress, lifting you up and pushing you back into the kettle. Once again, you nearly drowned in the black tea and gasped for air as soon as you reached the surface. The kettle was moving, the tea drowning you with waves again and again. You reached up and found a spot to pull you out of the water. You were inside the spout, voices from outside vibrating inside the kettle.

“To what do I owe the honour of this visit?” you could hear Seven talking to the newcomer.

You raised yourself on your toes, trying to listen in the conversation. Metal footsteps came nearer towards you, the person was wearing an armour you concluded. You waited for his answer.

“I… just wanted to know how you’ve been doing,” said the new voice. The voice was deep and soft. You could feel some kind of melancholy in it, a heart that was shattered once and then surrendered to darkness. Your hands pressed against the porcelain, your heart beating in anticipation. You wanted to see the man whom the voice belonged to, maybe then you would know why you was attracted to it. Why it pulled a string in your mind that was connected to a box that contained the answer to everything. It was the key to everything.

Seven hummed in acknowledgement, a dark chuckle escaping his lips. “Is that so?” he said like everyone knew that the armoured man had lied. You didn’t know why but you wanted to know. “I think that your majesty wants to know if I’ve been planning something rebellious.” Was he talking about the Mint Queen? “To answer the question… I’m fine and no, I don’t have any bad plans.”

“Saey-” the other man began to say but Seven beat him to it.

“Don’t call me like that.” Seven’s voice was sharp and full of anger, it scared you. “The person you knew died with you.” Died? Was the other man an… undead? What?

“You know that I didn’t have any other choice. I had to do what I did.” The armour shuffled again, the noise moving away from you. “I am sorry that things went down like they did.” Seven just huffed in response, earning a deep sigh from the other man. “I am actually searching for someone.” Your whole body tensed up. You could hear the dishes clattering like they were shaking. Maybe the others trembled in fear. “A tiny girl to be specific. Someone who doesn’t belong in this world.” That was definitely you. Your heart pumped heavily in your chest. The air was more tense than your muscles, your lips forming a thin line to stop you from making any noise.

“Ah~ why?” Seven sounded at ease, even playful.

“To bring her to the place she belongs to,” the other answered hollowly.

You knew he wouldn’t bring you home. His voice made it clear that something horrible would happen then. You sunk down on your knees, fear taking over your body. It was over for you if Seven delivered you to the other man.

“Nah, didn’t see someone like that,” Seven answered nonchalantly. The kettle moved abruptly as if he used it to motioned for something. You clasped your hands over your mouth to stop you from gasping and at the same time you tried to hold the balance and to not to fall into the tea. “Right, folks?” You assumed they nodded as you could only hear clattering dishware and no voices.

“Hmm,” the man hummed in thoughts, “that is odd because the hound told me she is here.”

Seven began laughing hard, the kettle was put down at the table. You could hear the others laughing with him nervously. It was nearly as if Seven wasn’t aware of the tense atmosphere that hung between them.

“The hound,” Seven breathed between laughters, “you really call him the hound? Isn’t he more like a… puppy?” He couldn’t stop laughing and you could hear the other man chuckling amusingly. “But nah~ there is no girl here. Just me, Longcat and my friendly neighbour Tom!”

“I take your word then,” the man responded and walked further away. The metal clattered more until it was replaced by hooves on the ground. “Have a nice tea party.”

No one said a word until the horse was far away. The lid was taken off from the kettle and big fingers lifted you up in the air again. This time, he opened his palm for you to sit down there. He looked with a serious expression at you, no room for the cheerful person from before.

“Listen,” he said with a stern voice, “you need to go to the White King right now. I will meet you there earliest by tomorrow and explain everything to you. I am sure the king will give you answers, too, but there is something else I want to talk about.” You nodded as you were listening to his whispers, the tension never disappeared. “The white palace is the only place where you are safe from the Mint Queen. If you are who I think you are… then you are our only hope.”

“Only hope?” You stood up and looked up to him as he lifted his hat from his head, putting you into the seam of it. “Seven, what is going on?”

“We have no time,” he said before he threw the hat into the air.

 

And there you were, flying again. The wind lashed into your face, the hat spinning round and round. You felt nauseous and dizzy, your hands clasping the fabric tightly. That was one of your worst flights since you arrived here, hopefully the landing was more comfortable than the ones before. You couldn't appreciate the world around you, everything flowed together in a blur of colours. The colours lessened with time and different shades of white mixed together.

Suddenly, the hat got stuck on a branch and the sudden halt made you scream in shock. You lost your footing on the hat and slipped off the edge but could luckily grasp a ribbon to stop your fall. You hung down high up in a tree, trying not to look down. A moment later, you heard shuffling beneath you, murmurs and concerned voices. Your hand grew tired, the cloth feeling slipperier with each second. You couldn’t hold onto it anymore, letting it go with a loud scream of terror.

You landed unexpectedly soft. You opened your eyes and looked around you, identifying the ground as palms of a white hand. Your eyes followed the hands to its arms, up into the face of the owner. Your breath got caught in your throat as you laid eyes on the most beautiful face you had ever seen. Skin as white as snow, eyes as red as blood and hair as white as the skin. His face was pristine like a bust created by Michelangelo himself.

“Hello, lovely girl,” greeted you God’s most beautiful creation, “everything all right?” His smile was as bright as the sun, gentle like the wind of the white trees.

You nodded with your voice lost in your throat. A faint blush appeared on your cheeks, making the man laugh heartily. As he leaned more forward to you, you spotted the small crown on his head. This could only mean one thing. “You are the White King,” you blurted out.

He chuckled again, examining you closer. “And why does such a cute girl like you want to know it?”

You tried to stand up in his palms, slowly getting the hang of the balance. You looked up eagerly to him as he slowly stopped looking cheerfully at you. “Seven told me you could give me some answers.”

At that he looked surprised. “Did he?” he hummed thoughtful before he smiled once again and began moving. “Well, then ask away.”

He walked towards the big white castle that you somehow missed before. You were once again in awe when you took in your surrounding, marvelling at the beauty of the white stoned kingdom. The tree’s barks were white as well but their leaves bloomed in a gorgeous red like his eyes. You felt uneasy nonetheless when you saw the leaves falling to the ground, forming a pool of red blood staining the undefiled world.

“What happened?” you breathed brokenly when your heart hurt in your chest. It felt like the world cried, crying from the blood shed on it. The darkness whispered into your ear again but you couldn’t understand its words. You thought about your arrival, the colourful flowers and then the deathland, you thought about the people you met, corruption seen in their eyes; you thought about voices of broken men, telling tales of calamity and hope at the same time.

“You need to be more specific, princess,” he spoke softly with sad eyes. Even he wore sadness in his soul, a melody bitter and somber. “Because many things happened since last time.”

“Last time?” There was the thread again, the thread that pulled something in your mind, the thread you couldn’t pull though, no matter how hard you tried. Red as blood, promising bittersweet memories you tucked once away. Red as… what? It slipped through your fingers again, once again out of reach for you.

“Maybe we should make you tall again, hm?” He entered the castle with a soft melody on his lips, his voice dreamily singing a song that could lull you into sleep. You didn’t want to interrupt him, didn’t ask him questions anymore because you knew you wouldn’t get answers.

The people were all as white as him. The castle was nearly empty. Why?

 

He arrived at his destination, setting you down on the kitchen table next to a pot. He began mixing together different thing that were scattered over the table, throwing it into the pot. He never stopped singing, his song as cheerful as he seemed to be. Your eyes were convinced by his act, your heart wasn’t. Suddenly, something in the pod exploded and he cheered in success, pouring the liquid from the pod into a small glass that he gave to you. You took it suspiciously, sniffing the foul smell. You wanted to vomit.

“It makes you tall again,” he encouraged you with a wink and took a step back.

You took a tentative sip, grimacing at the taste. The king motioned for you to drink more and you did. You swallowed gulp for gulp, ignoring the foul taste or your churning stomach. You dropped the glass as soon as you felt something strange in your belly, your body suddenly trembling. You looked at your fingers, how they popped and got bigger. Your whole body grew.

You were your normal height again, you realised with relief after a few seconds. “Thank you, White King.” You bowed your head in gratitude but the king put his hands on your shoulders and shook his head.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he said softly, “and call me by my name, Zen.”

“Then thank you, Zen.” You earned a smile from Zen again who in turn offered you his arm. You hooked your hand into his crook as he began walking out of the kitchen.

“You asked me what happened,” Zen started when you entered the hallway, “but before, I want to know what happened with you.” He stopped in front of an enormous door, secured by a silver lock and a stony figure with blood-red diamond eyes.

“I don’t know,” you admitted and looked down at your shoes that began to look worn out from your travel, “I met a strange guy on a party and found myself here in this world after I blacked out.” You looked up when Zen grumbled something you couldn’t understand. “I followed a rabbit who looked exactly like the man who took me here and got trapped by the mouse, Jaehee.” Zen’s brow furrowed when you told him about Jumin, the prophecy, the beast hunting you and Elizabeth, about Seven and the mysterious man in the armour.

“I understand,” Zen nodded and took your hand into his. The blush formed on your cheeks again but disappeared as soon as you saw Zen’s broken and stern face. “You must be scared and for that I am truly sorry.”

“But you didn’t-”

“No, I failed being the king people wished for. This means I failed you.” He laid his hand under your chin, gifting you an apologetic smile with sad eyes that hoped for something. “The only thing I can do to make amends… is to show you the prophecy.”

His hands left your body, turning towards the door and opening it in one motion. The door squeaked and revealed a room full of mirrors, reflecting white light that fell from the ceiling. It was filled with a heavy atmosphere, tension radiating off the walls. Zen’s steps echoed heavily, yours sounded lightly and nearly inaudible. You looked into the mirrors, seeing many reflections of you and the king, some distorted, some broken.

Zen laid a hand on your back, steering you towards the biggest mirror, set in a golden frame and wilted flowers. “Once our kingdom was kissed by the sun, gifted by the colours of a rainbow.” Zen touched the mirror, causing wave for wave to fill the mirror with pictures. The room lighted bit by bit, the mirrors portraying a world almost foreign for you. “Our folk was happy, living a bright life with no concerns. Harmony was in balance but then…”

Zen hesitated and shadow fell on his eyes. He turned around and the mirrors turned dark, enveloping the picture of a beautiful girl with golden hair in darkness. “Our princess was corrupted by the shadows, her light eyes darkened with hatred and madness. She longed for paradise where people lived in happiness that could only be achieved through pain and torture.”

The girl in the mirror opened her eyes, green eyes dim and a smile wide in insanity. Her hands wrapped around a man’s head, covering his eyes flowing with blood. You gasped at the cruel image, your blood running cold at the look of the man in the armour.  
“She was obsessed with his mint-green eyes that were once filled with kindness and wisdom. She took us away a great man we all loved.”

Silence fell over the room as the colours of the mirror faded into bright ones, picturing a young man with light purple eyes.

“Her brother was deeply in agony when she left the family and refused to take the crown when his parents passed away. The shadows hushed his silent cries when we needed him the most. The day of the coronation came and people celebrated. Our prince’s heart was heavy but his eyes fierce. He promised to bring his sister back because the crown was hers and not his. The princess had the same thought as she returned to the kingdom on the holy day. However, she wasn’t the kind girl we all knew… she was the Mint Queen, a woman driven by insanity and destruction. She began to kill those who defied her and corrupted our only hope. In the end, the prince sacrificed himself to save us all, giving her the crown and the kingdom.”

Your tears fell down from your chin, your eyes wide with shock. The mirrors told you a story that wrenched your heart. You saw people dying, land wilting, despair and horror and so much more you couldn’t bear to see. You reached out to the mirror when you saw golden eyes amidst fire, empty and scared. Zen stopped your hand from touching the glass, shaking his head as a warning.

“Our true White King vanished on that day without a trace. I was a close friend to Yoosung… to the highness and I couldn’t fail the people… you… I stepped up and fought the way out for the people. With the help of my friends, Jumin, Jaehee and Seven, we could escape the wrath of the Mint Queen. To this day we fight for the people we need to protect.”

Zen looked sadly at the mirrors that showed many people wearing dark robes and chanting something.

“Even though many obeyed the queen to protect themselves... there are a few of us left who defy her.”

The mirrors returned to reflecting your broken image. The tears streamed down and your hand clasped your dress in agony. You felt sorrow for the people, felt like you let them down. Zen didn’t fail you, how could he fail you when you didn’t even know him? You failed him.

Zen stood behind you, putting his comforting hands on your arms. You reached up to wipe away the tears, brushing the hair into your face to hide your shame and guilt.

“What about the prophecy?” you asked in a whisper.

His hands tightened his grip, a deep breath leaving his lungs. He steeled himself for something and you felt like you had to be brave for him.

“The prophecy shows us a brave soldier who can claim victory over the Mint Queen. Two days from now is the anniversary of the coronation day where I will challenge the Mint Queen for a fight. The promised soldier will claim victory over her and bring peace once more into our Wonderland.”

“Wonderland?” you breathed confused.

“However, the prophecy depicts the chosen one with a magical sword that no one could track down. We fear that the Mint Queen is in possession of the holy weapon.” Zen sighed again and turned you around to look into your eyes. “That you are here, right now, in this moment, it means that you are the chosen one. You are the soldier from the prophecy!”

You immediately took a step back and raised your arms defensively. “You must be mistaken! Do I look like a soldier?” You looked disbelievingly at Zen who reached out and stopped you from walking backwards into the mirrors. You slapped away his hand, shaking your head. “This is just a dream of mine… I am not a soldier from a prophecy!”

“I know how it feels to have to shoulder the responsibility of so many lives all of a sudden.” Zen smiled reassuringly to you. “But if the prophecy is right… then you are our only hope.” He took a small step towards you, pulling you into a desperate embrace. “Please, save us from the nightmare we call our life.”

You felt Zen’s shirt rumpling between your fingers as you pulled him tightly to you. You felt tired and was scared, like you were coming down from a high and crashing back into reality. The tears never stopped falling, the trembling accompanied it the whole time. You had so many questions you couldn’t ask. Your mind was blank and at the same time filled with the heavy burden laid upon you. You wanted to return home into the warm embrace of your mother who would soothe you with kind words.

 

You found yourself in a bed as soft as a cloud. It smelled like flowers from a broad field, was warm like the embrace of the sun. You felt exhausted and sleep sneaked upon you. Your stomach was knotted in tights and your limbs refused to move, even when you felt a shadow slipping into your room, roaming above you. Coldness replaced the warmth but the scent of flowers only strengthened. A cold hand laid onto your cheek, a breath dancing across your skin. It felt like winter would kiss you. You wanted to open your eyes in terror but couldn’t move. It felt like time stopped.

A whisper. A breath against your ear. Fingers dancing across your neck and throat, grabbing your chin and pulling you towards him. Mint-green eyes stared into your half-closed ones, a devilish grin playing on his lips. His face came closer towards you, his hair lightly tickling your face. He chuckled, licking over his lips.

“Who are you?” you whispered but couldn’t hear your own words. His grin only widened.

“Come with me.” His face came nearer, your noses touching. His fingers wandered to your cheeks, framing your face with your hands. You were trapped beneath him, his whole body pressing you down into the mattress.

“Where to?” You were captured by his words, his whole presence. You couldn’t explain but looking into those eyes, so bright in the darkness around you, you felt like you could reach out to finally grab it.

“In a world where time doesn’t exist.” His chuckle was high pitched, his insanity pulling you into the darkness even more. Your hand reached up and grabbed his hair. This was wrong.

You opened your mouth to say something, to say that his hair shouldn’t be white or pink but another colour, to ask him what this world is, to grab for the thread you could feel. You wanted to feel. But before you could speak a word, a whimper escaped your mouth when your lips were captured by his.

The world around you exploded with darkness. You couldn’t breath anymore. Your body trembled and your eyes opened as wide as they could. Your iris nearly swallowed your pupil. Your hand was captured, interwoven with a bright red thread that pulled on you with full force. You screamed silent cries, the noise devoured by the shadows. The darkness was mocking you, you finally felt the ecstatic state of nothingness and everything; and you hated it. You hated it with every fiber of your body because you wanted time to pass. There was someone waiting for you. There was always someone waiting for you. You only needed to figure out who.

_Who would wait for you?_

So many pictures shot through your mind, the thread began to unknot and become one with your hand. It brought light into the darkness, turning red to gold. Red and gold and not pink and green. Red and gold.

Red and gold.

Falling.

Pulling.

_Red and gold._

 

Your scream awoke you from your nightmare, strong arms embracing you and protecting you from the darkness. You heard shushing and soothing noises, a male voice, he called your name. Your name. How did he know your name? Your name. That was you. You was you. You was the crazy girl who always talked about a world full with colours from a rainbow. The crazy girl who needed to take drugs to desperately return back into the Wonderland. Wonderland? You remember Wonderland. The pictures in your head didn’t stop, too fast to recognize specific things or people. Just Wonderland. You always wanted to return to a place, to Wonderland you realized. Because someone waited for you. But who?

You looked up into worried eyes, red as blood. The wrong eyes. Neither red nor green. Just… it slipped from your mind again. Why? You reached out and touched the face, soft and pale, white as ashes. The skin felt warm and not cold, the breath tickled your lips. You longed for something, for someone. Red and gold.

“Are you alright?” His low voice broke the spell, waking you up from your trance with a startle. You grabbed his shirt tighter, the trembling returning back. He pulled you closer towards him, enveloping you with his heat. “You don’t have to be scared,” his voice tried to soothe you, “He is gone.”

You searched something in his eyes, founding the honesty in them. You were safe, weren’t you? “Thank you, Zen.” A small smile slipped onto your lips, a warmth filling your heart. He saved you again.

_Again?_

You grabbed your head, pulling at your hair. It hurt. It hurt to think about it. His hands pulled yours away from your head, holding them lightly in his. He pressed a small kiss on your head, remaining in that position for a few quiet moments until your breath normalized again.

“What happened?” you disrupted the silence and parted from Zen. You needed the distance from the king’s touch, even more when you shuddered from the memories of the insane man’s kiss.

Zen stood up from the bed to tore apart the curtains, letting the sun flow into the room. The coldness didn’t feel so cold anymore and the darkness vanished. Your heart felt lighter.

“Unknown tried to abduct you last night.” He turned back to you, picking up the sword on the floor when he walked back to you. “Fortunately, I was here before he could take you with him.” The sword glistened dangerously in the sun, the blade stained with blood. Your heart sank at the sight, did he kill the man?

“Unknown?” you asked with a hoarse voice, your throat hurting from the screaming. You couldn’t avert your eyes from the blood, hoping it didn’t mean what you thought.

“He’s the queen’s doll…” Zen sighed, his look trained down onto the floor. “He is one of her strongest weapons right after the dragon. Even I couldn’t harm him except for a small wound.”

You didn’t notice the deep breath that escaped your lungs after his confession. So he didn’t kill him. You couldn’t bear the thought of the man being dead. “Who is the dragon?”

Zen’s body tensed after your question, his lips pressing down into a tight line. He went with his hand through his hair before answering. “The dragon is the source of all darkness. He is invincible, a creature that cannot die.” At that, he looked with a stern face at you. “The prophecy… the chosen one is the only person who can defeat the monster with the magical sword. This is the only chance we have. Our only hope.”

“I-I…” you began, stammering in panic, “I-I can’t kill someone!” Your hands trembled even more, why couldn’t you stop trembling for a moment? “I am not a killer! I can’t do this.”

Zen sat down on the bed, taking your hands and squeezed them lightly. “Please,” he whispered, “we need you or else…”

A world covered in blood and ashes. Devil and shadows reigning over death land, devouring light, colour and music. Everything black and white; you saw once such a world, back then when you were young and wished to be back here, in Wonderland. You couldn’t deny Zen his wish, you couldn’t deny Wonderland its last hope. But you couldn’t kill a living being.

Zen took your silence as a sign of agreement, smiling relieved. He stood up in one swift motion, winking at you. “The breakfast will be set on the table in a few minutes. There are a few beautiful dresses in your closet, so I hope you find something in your taste.” With that, he walked out of the room without a trace of the conversation from before. You were left behind with a heart heavier than cold stone.

 

You weren’t hungry at breakfast and only listened to Zen’s chat with the other residents of the castle. They all looked as white as him, even their eyes. Zen’s eyes sticked out even more now. The king sighed and motioned to the busts at the wall, his face the epitome of sadness. “We need to talk gentler to them, they’re too sad. Their beauty cannot be overshadowed by the sadness engraved in our hearts.”

One of the residents wanted to answer if it weren’t for the door that burst open and a laughing man entered with confident strides. You turned around to look at the newcomer, your heart beating in your throat when you recognized the Mad Hatter.

“Seven!” you cried relieved and jumped up from your chair. You had the urge to wrap your arms around him, hugging him until you knew he wasn’t hurt anywhere. You know it was wrong since you only met him once and that meeting was short at best.

“Ho ho ho~! Did someone miss me~?” Seven sung and winked at you. Only then you noticed the small figures on his shoulder and behind him.

Zen stood up and walked towards Seven, a grin breaking out on his face. “I am glad you got here in one piece after I heard the tale of the Bandersnatch and V’s visit.” He reached out and took the figures from Seven shoulders, setting them down on the table.

“Jaehee! Jumin!” You felt relieved when you recognized them. Jaehee bowed to you while Jumin just fiddled with his sleeve, turning away and walking towards a white person who was the chef here. He spoke to him and the chef nodded, hurrying away into the kitchen.

You jumped when Seven put his arm around your shoulder while sitting down next to you. His grin only grew wider when you didn’t flee his touch. His face turned more serious the more he looked at you. “I am glad you arrived here safely.”

You just shook your head, smiling at him. “Only thanks to you and your hat.” That was still stuck in a tree. “Um, sorry for your hat.” You fidgeted in your seat, not wanting to meet his eyes. The hat looked gorgeous and even felt like that, it was such a shame it was now torn open between branches.

Seven only chuckled, squeezing your hand. “Nah, don’t worry! Have a lot of them anyways.”

A soft noise came from the other side of the room and your head whipped towards it, catching the moment Jaehee grew from a little mouse to a tall and beautiful woman. The same happened to Jumin but he grew into a young and handsome man. He fiddled with his cuffs again, straightening his clothes. His cold eyes found yours, looking sternly at you. You tensed at his look because you knew what he wanted to say. What he wanted from you. But before he could ask, Seven tugged at your hand, smiling sheepishly at you and nodding towards the door.

 

You stood up, following Seven through the castle. You couldn’t describe the feeling when you strolled down the hallway with him. His hand was warm, his fingers intertwined with yours. He looked at you, his golden orbs hidden behind his glasses and red hair. Red and gold. You felt like wandering between two worlds, seeing pictures of a bright sun before you. Flashing pictures of a crowd, cheering, a young boy, laughing. Colours in a hallway full of white, the thread peeking through the holes of your memories. It felt achingly familiar, it was in close vicinity to you, you just needed to grab it and pull, pull the memory back onto the surface of the dark ocean.

He stopped in front of you and so did your memories, the thread lost behind the white doors. You took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of blood-red leaves and instead smelled more than that. You could feel him, nearly tasting him as he drew nearer to you, his hands touching your arms, wandering up to your shoulders and neck.

Shockwaves went through your body, making you jump, especially when _he_ was back in your mind, his high-pitched voice threatening to take you into a world where time didn’t exist and a kiss full of a promise you didn’t want him to give. You broke apart from the Mad Hatter, looking apologetic into his golden eyes that reminded you once again that he wasn’t Unknown from before. But he felt so achingly familiar to him that it made you panicking. His soothing hands just fueled the fire inside you. You couldn’t touch him, you didn’t want him to.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a voice so broken that it wrenched your heart. You reached up, brushing his hair out of his face, accidentally slipping off the hat from his head. His full red mane was revealed, tugging at the string of your memory. You couldn’t reach this one but there was another thread that connected him. Connected him to another person.

“Unknown,” you gasped and took tentatively a few steps back, suddenly scared by the man in front of you. His golden eyes were wide, grasping desperately for you and the hat at the same time. You escaped his hands but your back hit the wall, panic rising with a heatwave when he stood directly in front of you, imprisoning you between him and the wall but giving you at the same time the space you needed to breath.

“I am not Unknown,” he said in a neutral voice but you could detect the sadness behind it, “I am…” He sighed, going through his hair with his hand and tugging at the hat you still held in your hands. You let it go and watched him setting it back onto his head and it felt like magic when you couldn’t connect him to Unknown anymore. You wanted to say that they looked alike but right now, you couldn’t. You couldn’t explain it. Seven grimaced when he searched for words, his face distorted in guilt and doubt. “Unknown is my other half,” he admitted defeatedly, searching for your eyes, “my brother. My twin more precisely.”

You calmed down when you saw the sincerity in his face, touching your lips when you felt a tingle from cold ones. “Twin?” you asked dumbstruck. You felt like a parrot that could only repeat the words people told you before, the revelations growing over your head. “The rabbit is your brother, too?” You had already forgotten about the rabbit but there it was, the question you wondered about since you arrived there.

Seven frowned, shaking his head. “Not exactly… He and Unknown are the same person.” You had to look more confused than before because Seven chuckled at your expression, muttering a _cute_ under his breath. “It is a little bit complicated but… somehow, the Mint Queen seperated my brother’s persona and created two of them. The rabbit is his softer and innocent side while Unknown is…” He didn’t dare to finish his sentence and he didn’t need to. You all knew what Unknown was. Seven cleared his throat. “The Mint Queen took him away from me that day. I haven’t seen him since then. I am sure he doesn’t want to see me.”

At that, you took his hands into yours, closing the gap between you two. You looked up into his sad eyes, trying to share your feelings. “Don’t say something like that. Maybe there is hope for him when he can unite his two persona again.” It was just a guess, you didn’t know the rules of magic or this world but you needed to cheer him up. Encourage him. Especially when you earned a small smile and a chuckle from him.

“Thank you, but… I don’t want to hope for something.” He went silent after that, just looking at you. Your cheeks reddened when you realized how close you were but you didn’t want to break off the contact. He was so warm. “Did Zen explained everything to you?” You gulped at his question and nodded slowly. You pressed your head against his chest, seeking comfort from him. He embraced you with his arms, pulling you towards him. “Can you do it?” You stayed silent, wishing you could give him everything you had. You couldn’t. You couldn’t kill a dragon, especially one that was more dangerous than Unknown. “You don’t need to…” Seven trailed off, sighing. He pushed you back so he could looking at you, a warm expression on his face. He felt like the sun, you thought. “I will be by your side, no matter what happens.” He pressed his lips onto your forehead, resting there. You could feel his breath in your hair, his heart beneath your hand. “I promised you, I will protect you. Even if it means to die.”

You looked up to him, your nose brushing his lips. Your heart pumped in your ribs, your breaths shallow. You could see the faint blush on his face, a small smile accompanied by sad eyes. Eyes that were hurt more times than they could bear. Your hand reached up, cupping his face to feel the soft skin. He leaned into it, sighing softly. His eyes closed to revel the feeling of your hands. Your body urged you to raise onto your toes and capturing his lips to forget the other kiss, to claim what you wanted for so long. Was he the person you waited for so long? Red and gold?

Instead, you just parroted his words again. “Promise? What promise?”

He broke the contact as if he had been stung, clearing his throat again and looking at everything but you. “Ah, forget what I said.” You tilted your head slightly, looking expectantly at him. He tried to convince you with his laugh but you didn’t buy it. “I talk many things when the day is long and I don’t mean any of them seriously, you know… ha… ha…”

You grabbed him by his lapels, pulling him towards you and tried to scowl at him. He was at first confused but then grinned widely at your face, laughing heartily at the situation. “I want you to tell me,” you tried with pouting instead.

His laughter died slowly and his hands found your head, intertwined in your hair. He tugged lightly at the strands, making you to look up at his face with your pouting lips. “Stop looking like that or…” His grin vanished bit by bit, replaced by a more longing and warm expression. You didn’t stop. He leaned down, his breath tickling your nose. He angled his face, it felt like seconds before he seemed to make up his mind. Your lips opened slightly and your eyes closed when it finally happened.

They were soft. They were careful. His lips were the best feeling ever. It made you forget about the other lips, made you forget about every worry that was burdened upon you. It was just a few seconds, a simple peck on your lips but it meant the world to you. It felt so warm, like an explosion of fireworks in your belly. Your heart didn’t slow down and you were lost for words. You held your eyes closed when you chased his lips, capturing him in another kiss.

There was something more to it. It became clearer when you began to move your lips and he responded to it. You could feel colours coming into your mind, a faint melody singing along. There was the thread again, wrapping around your finger tips. It pulled you towards the light, further and further until it enveloped and the image exploded in your mind.

A crowd cheering. A soothing voice in the background. A boy with bright and golden eyes. A hat that tingled with magic. And a smile that whispered so many promises into your ears.

Pain shot through your nerves. It hurt. It hurt so much. You broke the kiss, stumbling back, grabbing your head and screaming in pain. You couldn’t stop, tears slipped from your eyes at the feeling of it. You couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t focus on anything. Not on his voice calling out your name, not on his hands that pulled yours from your head, not on pleading eyes. The image vanished into darkness, the thread dissolving into black. The pain subdued together with it. You could breathe again, your heart slowed down. You felt exhausted.

His hands felt too intrusive, you slapped them away from you. You saw the hurt in his eyes, the guilt etched into his face. You wanted to apologize, to take everything back but you couldn’t. Instead you asked “What are you doing to me?”

He looked so broken at you, the hope vanishing from his eyes. They weren’t bright anymore, darkness fell over them with despair. He tried to form words but only choked an apologize. He stood up and extended his hand for you but you couldn’t touch him. It would only hurt more. Your knees felt like pudding, you nearly tripped but steadied yourself on the wall. Seven’s hand twitched to help you but he resisted the urge. His jaw was tense, his eyes trained on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” you breathed and took a further step away from him. He made no move to go to you or help you and you were thankful for that. You couldn’t bear to hurt him more than you already did. “I-I just go…” you trailed off because you didn’t know where to go to, so you just dashed off into the hallway, away from the broken Mad Hatter. You pretended you didn’t see the tears slipping down his face.


	2. The Threads

You were deep in your thoughts of the kiss, the feeling and the memory, so you didn’t look ahead and bumped right into someone. Their hands steadied you, prevented you to fall down and when you looked up, you saw cold grey eyes looking at you worriedly.

“Everything alright?” Jumin asked, letting his hands fall back to his sides. You nodded but it didn’t seem to convince him since his fingers brushed your tears from your face. He looked over your head and seemed to understand what happened at that moment. Seven had to be there, so you gave into the urge to flee the scene.

You found yourself on a balcony with a beautiful gazebo. You sat down on the bench, staring at the view on your side. You saw the land that was once so vivid that it seemed to be a nightmare where the ground was burnt down into nothingness. You noticed Jumin sitting down next to you, thanking him silently for not speaking.

After a few minutes, you turned to him, voicing your thoughts. “When I was a child, I was here, wasn’t I?” You waited patiently for an answer when you saw Jumin’s eyes moving in thought. He crossed his arms in front of him, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Can you remember it?” he asked with a steady voice. He was so void of emotions, you thought, that you wondered if the worry in his eyes earlier were a figment of your imagination.

You stilled at your thought. You tried to remember the moment where you accepted the Wonderland as reality and not as one of your drug-filled fantasy. Somewhere along the way you were convinced that this needed to be true because otherwise it would mean… it would mean that you clearly was mental ill. Then, was this just you denying your illness or was everything the other way round? It hurt to think about it further, it was only confusing without answers.

“I… don’t know,” you answered Jumin’s question eventually, “It feels like it is somewhere in my mind but I can’t reach it. And if I catch a glimpse of it…”

Jumin nodded understandingly and hummed in thoughts. His posture relaxed a bit and his hands fell down into his lap. “I know that we expect too much from you but you have to consider our circumstances.” Jumin tensed and eyed you from the side, watching your frown. “We all lost our homes and dear family. Jaehee was abandoned by her family who subordinated themselves to the Mint Queen and the same happened to Zen. He helped us few people to escape the Mint Queen and took the burden of the king onto his shoulders when I refused to.”

“Why?” You touched Jumin’s arm to comfort him, leaning your head against it.

It was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again. “The dragon killed my father and the Mint Queen took my dear friend from me.” He sounded as broken as Seven when he told you about his friend. “He loves the Mint Queen with his whole heart and sacrificed himself for her. Now he is just a puppet on her strings and I wished I could cut them off.”

“I’m sorry,” you offered him your condolences. You thought back to the tea party, the man talking to Seven. That was what Seven meant with him dying. “What was his name?”

“Jihyun. But he calls himself now V.” Jumin cleared his throat and continued his story. “As you already know, Seven’s brother fell into the Mint Queen’s hands, too. The problem we have... is that we are just a hand full of people who have no chance against the queen, no matter how strong Seven’s magic could be.” You perked up at Jumin’s words and wanted to interject something but Jumin was already at the next point of his story. “The prophecy is our only hope before she will attack us tomorrow again on the battlefield. You are our only chance to win the war.”

You squirmed and hugged yourself at his words. The burden got heavier the more they told you about their lives and hopes because you knew you didn’t have any choice. You had to fight against the dragon, had to sacrifice your life for the people. You loved the Wonderland, you wanted to save it no matter what. You wanted to save the people.

“And,” Jumin startled you out of your thoughts, “maybe you can get your memories back in case of victory.” You opened your mouth to retort something, especially after you saw the smug look on his face. However, there wasn’t a single thing to say against it. Jumin was right. The possibility was there.

“Maybe,” you agreed eventually.

The wind sped up, blowing through your hair. It got colder and somehow it sent cold shivers up and down your spine. You jumped up, hugging yourself even more, now because of the cold though. Jumin sensed your discomfort and stood up, too, motioning for returning back into the castle.

 

The rest of the day went by in a blur. You tried to avoid Seven as much as possible, even though it wasn’t that hard to do since he did the same. One thing you noticed lightened your heart: they were happier together. You noticed how Jaehee admired Zen and encouraged him in his decisions, how Zen and Jumin bickered over every small thing and how Seven could annoy Jaehee to the brink of madness. They all were thick as thieves, their friendship in a harmonic balance. Sometimes it seemed to be off balance, when Seven tried to prank someone and couldn’t find the suitable person, when Zen tried to give advices that no one really listened to or when Jumin spoke about things no one could understand correctly. You however tried to fill the hole that the missing people left. You tried to be the friend they needed to cheer them up.

There was one significant moment that pointed out how much you wanted to help them. You were all standing outside in front of the castle, the wind blowing through the leaves. Zen stood in front of all people that lived here, that dared to rebel against the Mint Queen. You were one of the crowd, looking up at Zen, the White King. His one arm went to the sword on his side, the other one lifted up and motioning to the crowd, beginning his speech.

“Many years has passed since we have to live in oppression. Since we have to hide ourselves from a queen that took us everything… and everyone. When I look into your faces, I see… I see sadness and despair. I see wounds that need to heal and scars that need to fade. And you know what else I see? I see courage. I see determination. I see faces that scream for freedom. I see people who are willing to sacrifice their lives… to bring back peace into our home. We are determined to bring back our home. Our friends and our families. We suffered long enough under the strings of a cruel queen!”

Zen’s speech encaptured the crowd, making them cry in agreement and raise their weapons. You hung on his every word, your hands balling into fists. You knew what you need to do. Determination took over your heart. You would fight for them. For the people. You would try even though you didn’t know how to slay a dragon.

“Tomorrow is the day of the decisive battle where we will raise our weapons against the Mint Queen’s army! Against her hound and dragon! And we will not lose!”

The crowd broke out into cheers, chanting and yelling, hugging and clapping. Zen’s eyes met yours and you nodded, showing your new acceptance of the mission. A thankful smile formed on his lips that captured you in its beauty. You heard a whispered “thank you” from your right and saw in your peripheral Seven standing next to you with head bowed. You heard insane laughter from your left and your head whipped around. There was nothing. Just the cold breath of a shadow. When you looked towards Jumin, you saw Elizabeth in his arms. Maybe it was just the cat.

But it wasn’t.

 

You awoke that night with a shock, wanting to cry for help when his hand found your lips. His mint-green eyes captured yours through the darkness, the grin grew even wider on his lips. His tongue darted out and licked the back of the hand that was pressed to your mouth. Although you told yourself to be brave, you felt nothing more than terror. He trapped you by straddling you, pinning you down into the mattress. His lips brushed over your skin towards your ear to whisper bittersweet words into your ears.

“I told you,” he said hoarsely, “I’ll come and get you.” He left your hand and mouth go when you gave up the fight. His hands began roaming over your body hungrily. He looked at you like you were his prey, his face nearing your neck. “I want to know what he likes about you.” He bit down hardly into your skin, a squeak escaped your mouth. “Why he wants you to be his.” His hand covered your mouth again before he bit down again, this time on your shoulder. “Why he wants to mark his existence onto you.” He licked over the spot he bit, brushing his lips over your collarbone. He stopped right above your breast. You tried to push him away but he captured your arms, pinning them down next to you. His lips neared yours, his breath felt like death was hanging above you. He pressed his lips against yours, hungrily moving against them. When he opened them, you took the chance to bite down on them as hard as you could. You could taste his blood before he quickly drew away, laughter erupting out of his throat. “Feisty, aren’t we?” he mocked you. You ignored him and hurried to screamed your lungs out.

He grabbed your body and turned you around, pressing your face into your cushion and stifling the scream. His whole weight pressed you down into the mattress, your back and arms hurting where he twisted them around. “Don’t you dare!” he growled angrily, biting again your shoulder from behind. He bit even harder than before, drawing blood from this spot. His laughter was madness. He was insane and you were scared. You struggled to fight him off, his weight crushing you. “How I love it when they fight back.” He chuckled and licked over the blood, eliciting goosebumps on your skin. “You are a keeper.”

Before he could bite down again, the doors jumped open and someone ran towards the bed. “Saeran!” the person cried and threw Unknown off you. You jumped up, escaping into Seven’s safe arms who held a sword against Unknown’s figure. Unknown stood up graciously, straightening his outfit. His lips formed a grin, chuckling at Seven’s appearance.

“What a spoilsport,” he groaned and laughed madly, “You interfered with my process of marking myself on her.” He sighed overly dramatically, going through his hair with his hands. “Always taking away the fun stuff, huh?” He stepped towards the bed where you both were seated, his hands pulling something out from his pocket. “How I wish I could kill you… Luciel.” He said his name mockingly and threw the knife from his pocket at you. Seven blocked it with his sword and you could hear steps nearing your room. Backup would be there soon.

“Why are you doing this, Saeran?” Seven sounded desperately and didn’t try to fight back. He had his arm protectively around you. Unknown… or Saeran seemed to notice it, too. He drew another knife out of his pocket together with another artefact.

Seven’s eye widened when he recognized it but he reacted just in time when Saeran threw another knife at you. Saeran used the time to lunge forward, stopping in front of Seven’s and your face and grabbed your arm. You were shocked at that moment and tried to hold on the Mad Hatter tighter but Saeran was stronger. He snatched you away from his brother, pulling you towards the mirror on the wall. Seven hurried to follow, ignoring the cry from Zen who arrived that moment. You stumbled backwards with Saeran who pulled you into the mirror and at the last moment, you could grab Seven’s hand and take him with you into the glass.

“Let her go!” Saeran screamed and threw another knife towards Seven, hitting his shoulder. Seven let you go at the impact, losing both of you as you were falling down in the mirror world. You could see Zen and the other on the other side of the mirror, getting smaller the further you fell down.

The landing was soft and you used the moment to break away from Saeran who in turn grabbed your ankle and made you fell down. You kicked against him and tried to get up but the fear made your knees soft and trembling. Just before Saeran could get his hands on you, someone pushed him off with a cry.

“Don’t hurt her!” You looked up and recognized the rabbit. This was Ray, Saeran’s other half. Ray stood protectively in front of you, smaller than Saeran who grabbed him by his lapels and pulled Ray towards him.

“Don’t get in my way, airhead!” he scolded and tried to throw Ray away but Ray held onto his arms. His face was determined and challenged his other half.

“No, not this time!”

You took the chance to run away, dashing off without a destination, just away from him. You needed to find Seven, anyone. You hoped that Ray would be fine after his fight with his other half but you couldn’t think about him now. Later. But now you needed to search for Seven.

 

You didn’t know how much time had passed. The scenery was the same: a white and endless room, empty with nothingness. What was this world? You called out for Seven but didn’t get any answer. This place was daunting. It felt like everything had been eradicated and this state was what was left. It surely was a place where time didn’t exist. You fell down on your knees, feeling once again exhausted now that the adrenaline was gone. You couldn’t stop now, you wanted to find him. You couldn’t forget his last look, reaching out for you with a bleeding arm. You laid down on the ground, looking up defeatedly when you noticed that up and down were the same. A room without rules. Like the first room you were in. There was a mirror in there you realized. That was how Saeran brought you into the Wonderland. Did it mean he had the power to travel through reality? Are the mirrors different realities?

“Yes, they are,” someone answered suddenly. Your eyes shot open, taking in the sight of a young man, hair golden and eyes purple. You knew him. Realisation dawned upon you. You shot up into a sitting position.

“You are the prince!” Your finger brushed his nose when you pointed it at him, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Then, the boy chuckled cheerfully and offered you his hand to stand up.

Once in an upright position he smiled sweetly at you. “Yes, I was once the prince of Wonderland. But call me by my name, Yoosung!”

You returned his smile back. “Nice to meet you. And I am-”

“Oh, I know who you are! You used to visit us often in the past.” Oh, you forgot. Yoosung laughed at your dumbfounded expression. “You were a little girl back then!” He looked you up and down, a frown placing on his lips. “It seems that much time has passed since we last met.”

You could sense a sadness in him and reached out to hug him. You couldn’t explain why but the embrace felt warm and right. Maybe you hugged him a lot in the past. You found comfort in it. “Your friends are worried.”

Yoosung broke off the embrace, stepping back to give you space. His smile was still on his lips, sadness tried to wipe it off though. “Am I right when I say that my friends are older than me now?” At your confused look, he elaborated. “I was merely a year younger than my sister before Saeran imprisoned me in this mirror world. Time doesn’t exist in here. Outside from here, people get older. There are days and nights. Inside here… here is nothing. Just what the mirrors want to show us.”

“Oh,” was all you could say. You glanced around, taking in the infinite white room once more. “What do the mirrors show?”

Yoosung shook his head. “I don’t know. Sometimes other worlds, sometimes memories. Sometimes things we searched for so long. Things that were once lost can be found here.” He went silent for a few seconds, thinking about something. “Oh, Saeran uses the mirror to travel from place to place. And my sister uses it as her treasury and prison.” By that he motioned to himself.

A thought crossed your mind. “Do you think the holy sword is here?” You took Yoosung’s hands in yours, asking again. “The sword from the prophecy! Do you think we could find it in here?” Your eyes lit up in hope. Then you could save them all. Save the prince. Save Saeran. And Seven.

“Maybe, I don’t know,” Yoosung admitted. He saw your face falling, so he squeezed your hands. “But we can search for it!”

You nodded in agreement, cheerful again. You couldn’t give up now. “Oh, and we need to search for Seven! I hope he’s alright.” Yoosung looked confused at you. “You know... Luciel?” He shook his head. “The Mad Hatter?” At that Yoosung stilled.

“Oh, you mean Saeyoung?”

It struck you like a lightning. Your breath got knocked out of your lungs, the pain unbearable in your head. You felt like the first time falling. Colours blurred together, lightning up the white nothing. It hurt your eyes but you couldn’t close them. You watched the colours whirling around you, this time you tried to catch them. You felt like falling, you felt wind on your skin, the thread drifting through your fingers. You could feel it. You could grab it. The light swallowed up the colours, blinding you for a moment. The thread pulled you towards it, soothing pain and panic away. It felt like a dream turning from nightmarish black and white into colours of a dreamy rainbow. Your heart pumped again, air filled your lungs. Your voice whispered his name into a world that began turning. Time began ticking away, you could feel it. Grasp it. Dipping deep into the ocean, further than the surface. Further than you ever could. The light became unbearable, you closed your eyes. When you opened them again, you were back.

Back to a time you had forgotten.

A boy stood in front of you, clasping the hat in his tiny hands, looking at you in awe. Golden orbs met yours and that was the moment you remembered. You remembered everything.

“What is your name?” you asked above the cheering crowd. His cheeks turned pink, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Saeyoung. And yours?”

You smiled at him, reaching out with your hand to grasp his one. It felt like memories swimming together, pictures flashing through your mind. You could see him pulling you towards his brother who ate a biscuit at that time. You met Jihyun who was gentle and soft. You remembered meeting Yoosung, Zen and Jaehee on your many adventures in Wonderland. You remember how Zen wanted to be the most beautiful minstrels the royal court would know. How he promised you to achieve it no matter what happened. You remembered Jumin, always by V’s side. You remembered Jaehee who tried hard to be a strong soldier. You even remembered Saeran who loved to eat sweets and watching the clouds. He always brought you home and back into the Wonderland.

But most of all, you remembered Saeyoung. How you would play with him. Pranking Yoosung with him. Causing mischief by using his magic. How he always wanted to play with Elly. You remembered getting older with him. Holding his hand. Watching the stars. Whispering promises.

“You would never leave me, would you?” he asked one night in a whisper.

You shook your head, taking his hand into yours. “I will always return back to you.” Saeyoung smiled widely at you. “I will never forget you,” you promised.

You both didn’t know that the world would be too cruel. That it would destroy the childish innocence.

The last thing you remembered was a sword cutting through you and forgetting the Wonderland forever. A last cry escaped his lips before your world was swallowed by darkness. He was calling your name.

He was calling your name. Shaking you. This wasn’t Saeyoung calling your name. This was… You opened your eyes, feeling the embrace of a worried boy. You looked up into purple eyes. “Yoosung,” you whispered.

“You passed out a moment,” he sighed in relief that you finally woke up.

You looked confused around you, asserting yourself of the situation at hand. Now thinking about it, you felt something tugging at your hand. You looked down to it. Your eyes widen in surprise when you saw the red thread wrapped around your fingers. You could actually see the thread. Maybe was pulling you to something. You jumped up, following the thread.

“Wait!” Yoosung cried and began running behind you.

You tugged at the thread, following its trail further and further into the white room. You could hear voices from the past, flashing pictures of moments and that just because you touched the thread.  _ Your memories _ , your heart nearly bursted in hope. You could finally hope. You were more determined than before that you needed to save them. You had to!

At one point, you noticed that it wasn’t only your memories. You saw ashes and blood. A frightening dragon spitting fire, eradicating the lives on the ground. The thread was telling you stories. Whose stories was it telling you? You saw a sword wielded by the princess’s hands. She tried to slay a dragon but then, darkness everywhere. You saw the princess wielding the sword again, taking the life of a woman. Behind her was the familiar face of a boy who tried to vanish into a mirror. The princess destroyed the mirror, capturing the boy.  _ Saeran _ . You saw the horror on his face. You saw a sword. You heard a cry. Then, you saw yourself in front of the Mint Queen, trying to take away the sword. A prophecy written on golden paper in red ink. A thread snapping and darkness overcoming you. Saeran splitted in two halves, discussing something.

“We need to bring her back,” Ray’s voice echoed in your head.

“The Mint Queen told us to kill her here,” Unknown growled.

“Bring her back,” Ray’s voice vanished into the darkness.

You finally understood. You understood everything. The Mint Queen was scared of you. You were the chosen one to bring her down. You once tried to defeat her but couldn’t because you didn’t have the sword. The Mint Queen used it to cut off your memories and then tried to kill you. Saeran wanted to kill you, Ray had saved you instead. They brought you back. They brought you home. And years later, they brought you back into Wonderland. Even though Saeran’s heart was corrupted by darkness, by the Mint Queen herself, a part of himself wished to be saved.

 

And at the end of the threat, you found the sword, protected by your threads around him. The sword had called for you, showing you its own memories. Its blade was dulled, the colour faded into grey. It looked abandoned and weak. You didn’t doubt it for one second. Yoosung gasped in surprise at its sight, his hands slipping over his mouth. His eyes lit up in hope.

You put your fingers around the sword, taking a deep breath before pulling it out from the ground. The sword lit up, the grey turning into a white combined with all colours. It hummed with a melody of war, victory and peace. The last piece of the puzzle. You felt like everything came together. You felt alive. You felt whole. In balance. All the burden of your past fell from your shoulders, the burden of your lightened with your determination. All thanks to the sword that could cut through everything. Even through the darkness itself.

“We need to find Saeyoung and get out of here,” you told Yoosung with a stern voice.

“But how?” Yoosung looked around, finding nothing more than a white room.

You closed your eyes and felt the sword in your hands. You could hear it talking. Sense its thoughts. You knew it would bring you to the destination of your heart. You listened to it. The thread would lead you towards him.

Suddenly, you tore open your eyes, your mind filled with the knowledge of where to go to. The sword was your leader, guiding you through the emptiness. You picked up your pace, running towards him. He should be there. Your heart jumped behind your ribs, excitement bubbling in your veins. Yoosung fell behind but you couldn’t care right now. Everything that mattered now was him.

You stopped in your tracks, gasping for air. Yoosung bumped into you. Your eyes were focussed on the figure hunched over in pain. They sat on the ground, clasping their shoulder. Your mind blanked when your steps echoed, running towards them.

“Saeyoung!”

His head shot up and his eyes searched for you. The glasses weren’t sitting on his nose but on the ground, his golden orbs so unguarded. You pulled at the thread nearing him, taking in his big, round eyes filled with such hope. You went down on your knees, sliding the last few inches towards and bringing your arms around him. You pressed your lips in his hair, inhaling his scent. It felt so good, especially when his arms wrapped around your waist, pressing you to him no matter how much his shoulder pained. You felt his sobs on your shoulder, the wet patch that formed there.

You cradled his face between your hands, leaning your forehead against his. You stared directly into his eyes, bright as the sun. “I remember,” you whispered, “I finally remember, Saeyoung.” Another sob escaped his mouth at the sound of his name. His hands tightened around your dress, his teeth pressed together to muffle other sobs.

“Please call me like that again,” he pleaded and pressed sloppy kissed on your chin.

“Saeyoung,” you chuckled and let a smile break out on your lips. His kisses tickled your neck, your fingers wiping away his tears. Finally, he pressed his lips on yours, better than the first one. No pain, just happiness. 

“Ahem.”

And Yoosung. Seven broke off from you, looking at Yoosung with a bright face. They both grinned and fell into each other’s arms until Seven winced in pain. Yoosung pulled away, inspecting Saeyoung’s wound.

“What happened?” he asked worriedly and began peeling off Saeyoung’s clothes. “It’ll feel awkward at first but please hold still.” Yoosung closed his eyes, hovering his hands above the wound. He concentrated until his hands began to light up. Saeyoung grimaced, his brow deeply furrowed and jaw tense.

After a few seconds, the wound closed itself. Yoosung took a deep breath and swiped the sweat off his forehead. You and Saeyoung inspected the bloody skin and indeed, there wasn’t a wound anymore.

“Wow,” you gasped. Saeyoung only nodded in awe.

Yoosung laughed embarrassed. “Rika is so much better than me in doing this. My powers are a little bit rusty after being imprisoned here for years.”

Saeyoung hugged him again, thanking with his loud and cheerful voice. “I am so glad to see you again,” he added happily.

You stood up again, looking worriedly around. “I hope we aren’t too late for the battle.” Yoosung and Saeyoung looked grimly at your words. Just then the Mad Hatter noticed the sword you yielded.

“Is this the sword from the prophecy?” He took the sword in his hands, examining it from every angle. His fingers slid over the blade, feeling the flowery engraving on the surface. You saw something glistening under his fingers but weren’t too sure about it. “It’s so cool~” He gave it back to you but couldn’t tear his eyes off it.

You took a deep breath, getting in position. Yoosung asked what you were doing but he got ignored. You concentrated on the sword, listening to it again. You needed to hurry. People were counting on you. You felt the swords power flowing through your veins, your senses sharpening. You hit the air with your sword, slicing apart the room and world on the other side. You heard gasps behind you and felt the air from the other side flowing towards you. You smiled sheepishly at the boys behind you. “A sword that can cut through everything.” You just hoped you weren’t too late.

 

The atmosphere was finster. The sky was clouded, rain poured down lightly. Lightnings struck in the background. The battlefield was designed like a chess board, black and white fields. On the one side, Zen stood with his small army behind him, chivalrous and ready for the battle. Jumin and Jaehee stood beside him, their swords already drawn. Their eyes were tired but didn’t showed a sign of exhaustment. On the other side stood the Mint Queen, her blonde hair flowing in the wind. V held his sword down, his face somber. Saeran was behind them, his lips in a tight frown. His hand was clasped tightly around a clock, his other one around a rope that was connected to Ray. Ray looked beaten up, his eye in blue and green hues, his lip split. Saeran’s hand tightened around the rope and a groan escaped his throat when Rika turned towards him with a scolding face. Behind them all was an army of the undead people, objects that came to life through the power of the crown. The Bandersnatch fletched hungrily his teeth.

Elizabeth appeared in the middle of the battlefield, flowing around. “Today is the holy day of the battle where the Mint Queen and the White King battle against each other over the crown. Each side is allowed to field one leader who will fight against each other. The fight is over once a leader has fallen and the winner will get the crown!” Zen took a heavy breath and tried to not show his nervousness. His ace just vanished last night due to the Mint Queen’s little puppet. Rika however looked like the calmness of the whole world. She raised her hand.

“My leader will be my most loyal soldier!”

The earth shook under them all as the giant monster made its move onto the field. Its wings blew up the dust from the earth, its enemies searching for their balance. It landed on the ledge at the edge of the battlefield, emitting a deafening cry. Zen’s people trembled in fear at the sight of the great dragon. Sweat formed on Zen’s forehead, his jaw tensed. He looked around him, searching for a willing candidate against the Jabberwocky. He couldn’t see anyone. he took a deep breath, taking a step forward. He was about to call out his own name, when suddenly the Mint Queen’s army gasped.

“I will fight against the dragon!” echoed your voice over the field.

You arrived at the last minute, running up that ledge to reach the battlefield. People cheered for you, watching you standing there chivalrous, the sword in your hands. Your armour gleamed like silver in the light of a lightning. Behind you, Saeyoung and Yoosung finally arrived next to you. Yoosung hunched over to gasp for air while Saeyoung jumped down onto the battlefield with a wide grin spread across his face. His sword was drawn and pointed towards Rika in a threatening stance.

“Your last hour has come!” But Rika’s eyes weren’t on Saeyoung at all. She looked grimly at her little brother who got all the attention.   
“Yoosung!” Zen called disbelievingly for him. He didn’t have the time before you jumped down the ledge yourself, landing next to Saeyoung.

“Their outfits even match,” mumbled Jumin under his breath. Jaehee grinned before taking her position, ready to fight.

Elizabeth grinned like a cheshire cat should do, chuckling. “Well, well! Shall the fight begin!”

“For our saviour!” cried the undead.

“Long live the White King!” cried Zen’s army.

The two sides clashed together in the middle, swords clinging together. Sweat forming on foreheads, blood drawn from the enemy. Battle cries from the different people. Jaehee directly lunged for the Bandersnatch, aiming for his eyes. It looked like a dance of old enemies, knowing every move from the other one. She dodged all his moves and he dodged hers all the same.

“Let’s go!” you told to Saeyoung and began running towards the dragon on the ledge. You dodged easily all attacks thanks to Saeyoung’s armour that enhanced all of your abilities. Back in the mirror world, he formed this magical armour out of your dress. You were glad for it since it meant you could avoid fighting against the others without protection.

 

On the battlefield, Jumin fought his way elegantly through the crowd. He didn’t even get a scratch from the others. He danced with them, playing before striking. He was about to defeat another undead when suddenly, someone blocked his blow. He stood face to face with the familiar mint-green eyes of an old friend. Jumin stopped his attack, withdrawing his sword. V held his sword in front of him, his eyes pleading.

“Jihyun,” he muttered his name. V however only attacked him again. Jumin blocked it effortless, analyzing V’s pattern. It didn’t change much from earlier fights he had with him but something was off. His moves weren’t precise and well aimed. There were only two possibilities: He couldn’t see his enemy correctly or he didn’t want to hit a blow. And looking into V’s pale eyes, Jumin realized that both was possible. “What happened to your eyes?” Jumin asked above the noise of the battle. V didn’t respond.

Yoosung finally reached the battlefield and looked at loss when he realized he didn’t have a weapon. Few soldiers came through him, attacking him. He could dodge a few of them, others blocking with his magic. He wasn’t strong enough against three of them at the same time and searched for an escape. In an heedless moment, one of the soldiers swung down his sword and Yoosung saw his end coming. 

Fortunately, Saeyoung prevented Yoosung’s death by blocking the blow for him. He grabbed a stone from the floor all while holding against the soldier. His hand began to glow and the stone formed to a sword that he threw towards Yoosung. Yoosung caught it clumsily in his hands, hurrying to fight by Saeyoung’s side. Together, they defeated them and got ready for the next attack. Suddenly, Saeyoung saw something that drew his attention. He began to run towards it and left Yoosung behind.

The dragon roared. He got ready to spit his fire so you had to hurry over to him to stop him. You climbed the ledge quickly but all of sudden, the earth beneath you crumbled. You looked down to the field and saw the Mint Queen doing her magic. Rika smiled smugly at you, forming another spell in her hands. The sword urged you to take a step to the right. You obliged in the right moment as the dragon’s claw smashed the ground beneath it.

Zen saw your struggle with Rika and the Jabberwocky and decided to fight against her. He made his way through the field and readied himself to strike a blow against her; when suddenly Saeran butted in and threw a knife against him. Zen could block it instantly but felt glass crushing under his feet. He looked confused to the ground, shards of mirrors spread all around them. Saeran smirked before snapping his fingers and threads shooting out of them. One impaled Zen’s arm, eliciting a cry of pain out of him.

“I’ll wipe off that grin from your face,” Zen growled and hauled off for his next strike. Saeran ducked down to dodge the strike but Zen knew better. He saw the chance for a fatal blow and Saeran grimaced.

The blow got blocked. Zen looked angrily into golden eyes, cursing under his breath. “Why did you stop me, Seven?!”

Saeran laughed behind Saeyoung, using his magic mirror trick to let threads shot out again. Saeyoung just grabbed one of them to prevent them from hitting him and Zen, turning it into another knife to throw it towards Saeran. Saeran just ducked down but Zen was instantly ready to attack him. This time, his brother couldn’t protect him but the attack got blocked nonetheless. Out of the mirrors came Ray with a thread as hard as metal, holding against Zen’s sword. Saeran took the clock from Ray’s pocket and vanished into a mirror shard. Saeyoung searched around, his ears listening for any clues. He could feel his brother attacking before he could see him and blocked the attack of strings from behind easily. He transformed the strings in his hands into another sword to cut through them and lunged for Saeran who just vanished into the mirror again. Saeyoung got frustrated. “We need the clock!” he told Zen who had a hard time to dodge Ray’s fast strings.

The dragon roared again, the fire accumulating in his mouth. You tried to get forward but always got obstacles in your way. The Mint Queen’s spells annoyed you but you could only cut through them. You tried hard to get forward but for every step you took you needed to make two back because of her. This was frustrating. You took a deep breath before running again, forward with no fear and full of determination. Something changed. There weren’t any obstacles on your way anymore. You looked to your side and saw how Yoosung attacked Rika.

“What are you doing, my dear brother?!” Rika cried angrily. She spoke a spell to capture him in vines but Yoosung cut through them with his sword. He raised his hand, speaking his own spell to attack her. She blocked effortless. “You should fight by my side!”

“What you do is not right, Rika!” Yoosung told her. “You need to wake up and fight against your demons!” He tried to near her but Rika was faster and spoke another spell. A vine grew out of the ground, winding around his throat and strangling him.

“I wish you would listen to my words without the pain!” she said in madness, “but sometimes, torture is the right way to force people on their path towards happiness.” Yoosung grabbed the vines and tried to escape their hold. He was struggling to breathe. He wanted to say something so much but couldn’t.

“I never wanted all of this!” V admitted when he blocked one of Jumin’s attack. V knew that Jumin didn’t put his whole effort in his blows. “I wanted to help Rika! To bring her back on the right path!”

“So you just walked with her on the wrong one? I see how you saved her!” Jumin retorted angrily and dropped down his sword. “If you don’t want to fight me, then stop it!” He looked pointedly at V who looked torn. Seconds ticked by until V let go of his own sword and gave up. He sighed defeatedly and bowed his head.

“You are right. I don’t want to fight you. But what choice do I have?” He looked brokenly at his friend. “I love her und will always do so. I promised to love her even beyond death.”

“But that’s not an excuse to throw away your life like that. To make decisions you would regret right away. You can’t tell me that you don’t feel any remorse for oppressing all these people!” Jumin didn’t need an answer from V. The guilty expression in his eyes were more worth than words. He offered V a hand and helped him up, taking the sword again in his hands. “Help us. End this madness!” V just nodded and picked up his own sword again. Together they fought against the Queen’s army while V tried to get through the crowd to reach Rika.

Jaehee held against the Bandersnatch, struggling to stay on her feet. He was stronger than she remembered. Her arms were wet with his drool, her ears deaf due to his roars. She was focussed only on him. He was her duty. He was her chance to prove herself. She jumped back to get more space, ran towards him with a war cry, jumped into the air and raised her sword. The Bandersnatch’s eyes followed her movements, his mouth opening up and eyes wide. There was only one way to defeat him and she was about to do so. She landed with her sword ahead, slicing through the eye of the beast. It roared in pain, blood flooding out of the wound. Jaehee pressed the sword deeper in it, clenching her teeth in anger. The beast struggled, trying to get Jaehee off him. His paws batted after her, one of his claws grazing her leg. Jaehee went down on her knee, easing the pain it caused. She didn’t let go of the sword, took all of her strength and twisted it around in motion. The Bandersnatch cried one last time before he broke down in defeat. Jaehee stayed in her position, catching her breath until a big smile broke onto her face. She finally did it. She did it.

She took out the sword, accidentally picking out the eye with it. She seperated the eye from her weapon with her leg, looking around her. Both sides got weaker and lost their soldiers. There wasn’t much time left. A cry of pain from Seven caught her attention and Jaehee whipped her head towards them.

Zen was tangled in many threads, one of them choking him. Ray stood behind him, pulling the cords tighter and tighter around the king. Seven looked frantically around, clutching his left arm that was bleeding at an alarming rate. The mirror shards around him lit up, threads shooting out and piercing through Seven’s clothes and left arm again. He clenched his teeth to suppress the groan of pain, trying do dodge Saeran who suddenly came out of the mirror.

Saeran’s knife got blocked by Jaehee who finally arrived. She ignored the pain in her leg and tried to protect Seven as effectively as possible. She knew that she couldn’t harm Saeran in a deadly way since that would make Seven going haywire. So instead she just blocked Saeran’s attacks and hoped for you to finish the fight as fast as you could.

Saeran felt something tugging at his jacket and looked down. Saeyoung smiled at him smugly and showed off the clock he held in his hands. Saeran grunted and went for his brother but the mouse blocked his path.

Saeyoung tried to get as much distance between him and Saeran but tripped over a thread. He landed painfully on his left arm, letting go of the clock. He crawled quickly over the ground to get to the clock but black gloved hands snatched it away. Saeyoung looked up into the bright green eyes of Ray, whose other hand is tugging at the thread around Zen’s neck. Saeyoung threw himself on Ray but got pushed away instantly. The Mad Hatter looked around, taking a thread himself and caught Ray with it. Ray let go of Zen and vanished into the mirror just to appear right behind Saeyoung and slamming him into the ground.

Zen laid on the floor, gasping for air and holding his hurting neck, coughing much. He searched for his sword but couldn’t find it with his blurred sight. He heard Seven wheezing and gathered that Ray did the same to his brother as to him. He felt a stone under his hand and threw it right into the direction of Ray. He had hit him since Ray gasped and let go of Seven who turned them around and now held Ray into place.

As you neared the dragon, you watched in fear how his mouth filled with fire, his eyes fixated on you. His eyes were golden but dimmed with the corruption of darkness. His head perked up, the fire overflowing. He swung his mouth, releasing the fireball towards you. You halted in fear, no way to escape. You braced yourself, covering your face with your arms and anticipated the heat that would envelope you. You heard Jumin crying your name far behind you but it was too late.

The fire hit you, the heat unbearable. Your face felt so hot. Your body didn’t though. Saeyoung’s armour protected you from the fire but you needed to get out as fast as possible. “A sword that can cut through everything,” you repeated again and again in your head. You swung the sword against the fire, cutting through it with a fierce expression. You could see him through the fire, picked up your pace and emanated a war cry. You needed to do it. For your friends. For the wonderland. You were too occupied in running towards the dragon, you noticed the paw too late. The shadow of his gigantic claws fell over you, getting smaller and smaller until he smashed right onto you.

The world stilled that moment. Saeyoung had watched the moment in horror. His whole attention was caught by you and the dragon. He was already on his feet to run towards you but then, he heard you from an entirely another direction. He looked disbelievingly at you falling down from another ledge, Ray carrying you in his arms. Just then Saeyoung noticed that Ray had been vanished under his hands to save you.

You heard Rika shouting after Ray, her rage and anger, but all you could focus on was the neck of the dragon. The neck that was right beneath you. Ray let go of you and your arms were free. You lifted up your sword, ready to strike down for the last time. It felt like the world was in slow motion, every eye watching you. Rika’s cry teared through the time when your blade touched the dragon’s skin, slicing through it. You thought about the sword, asking for its help. You needed to slice through more than skin and flesh. You needed to slice through the threat that was promising the dragon infinite life.

You hit something hard in the dragon. It felt like a diamond. This was its core. This had to be the core. You felt the stone breaking, you pressed harder. It shattered and revealed a thread in it. The sword could cut through them all. This needed to be done. This had to be done. As soon as you touched the thread with your sword, you felt warm light enveloping you. You heard voices whispering in your ear, pictures in your mind.

You saw a man with familiar golden eyes, a wicked smile on his face as his hands crafted a charm. You saw the man forging a certain sword, the sword that could cut through all things. You saw him slaughtering people with the sword, imprisoning their souls into the diamond. Producing a thread of souls, making his life infinite. You saw him turning into a dragon, fearful and demoniac. Then there she was, bright like the sun, innocent like an angel, touching the mirror and falling into shadows. The dragon whispering dark words into her ear, gifting her with a sword. Telling her secrets, pulling her into his darkness. The same moment than before, the Mint Queen, the mother and the son, one of them vanishing back into the mirror under the golden graze of something malicious.

You were on your knees, the sword tightly between your hands. Your head was bowed and you felt blood clinging on your whole body. It felt like the world held its breath, waiting for you to raise your head. You opened your eyes slowly, seeing the undead collapse into ashes. You saw Rika getting weakened and Yoosung overpowering her all the sudden. You saw Jumin running towards you. Jaehee holding Saeran tightly. Zen smiling in relieve and Saeyoung… You saw his tears streaming down his face.

Suddenly, you felt exhausted. The sword fell from your hands and you lacked the strength to hold yourself up. Hands stopped your fall and you looked up into warm, grey eyes of Jumin who smiled reassuringly at you.

“The Jabberwocky got defeated by the White King’s chosen soldier!” Elizabeth declared in a loud voice. Her figure appeared bit by bit in the air flowing with Rika’s crown over Yoosung’s head. Rika was on her knees, her green and empty eyes full of tears. Yoosung accepted the crown with a rueful expression.

“No,” she cried, “No! That can’t be!” Her protests were drowned by the people’s cheers and tears.

Yoosung lifted up his arms to silent them. He turned back towards Rika, his shoulders slumping down. “In the name of the Kingdom, the Mint Queen shall hereby punished for her cruel doings.” His voice broke as he watched her blank expression. Her eyes were empty and hollow. “She shall be banned from our lands to live a life peacefully outside of ours.”

People were scandalized by Yoosung’s mild punishment. Many of them demanded her death or at least imprisonment. Yoosung wasN’t having any of that. V appeared at his side, kneeling in front of him. Jumin supported you to the scene and together with Zen, Jaehee and Saeyoung you stood in a circle around them. Saeran was captured by Zen and held his head down. Ray had vanished into the mirror world.

“Please send me away with her.” V’s demand surprised everyone, especially Jumin who let go of you right that instance. He stepped towards V, looking at him with pleading eyes. V didn’t get him the chance to speak up. “I supported her madness instead of searching help. I did many things that I regret so much. I have to be punished. I promised my love that I will never leave her, no matter what. So, please…” V bowed in front of Yoosung, his eyes closed. Yoosung just frowned and thought about it.

“You are right,” he said slowly, “but at the same time, I just want the best for my sister. Even though she did all the awful things she did… she is still my sister and I love her. Therefore…” V slumped down and looked broken. You held your breath for Yoosung’s punishment. “Therefore, you will accompany my sister to her exile.” Yoosung himself went down on his knees, setting his hand on V’s shoulder. “Please take good care of her.”

And with his words, Jihyun’s tears streamed down his face for the first time in years.

 

You opened your eyes and was confused at first. You looked up to a ceiling, pretty and colourful. You felt the cushion beneath you, the cover that warmed you. You smelled flowers, many flowers. The sun shone through the windows, the walls painted in many colours. You heard the faint sound of a melody from outside. Your eyes wandered down towards your hand. Another hand held it lightly, the thumb caressing it affectionately.

“Hello,” whispered a hoarse voice. You looked up into his eyes, the gold eliciting a warm feeling inside you. “Did you sleep tight?”

You nodded sleepily and tried to get up. The exhaustment was still there but you felt more at peace than anything else. Your lips perked up in a smile when you saw his. You leaned forward towards him, startling him with a peck on his lips. He chuckled before his arms wrapped around you and his lips caught yours in a deep and passionate kiss. Your hands wandered up his arms to his face, cradling it in your palms. You parted from him, looking into his eyes.

“Everything’s over?” you asked him in a whisper. He nodded with a grin on his face, leaning his forehead against yours.

“Thanks to you…” He kissed you again, his nose bumping into yours. “Thank you.”

He drew back to you and you studied him. His head was a mop of curly hair, curlier than usual. His eyes weren’t as sleep deprived than before and the worried lines eased from his face. He looked brighter at all, like the boy you knew from your childhood.

“Saeyoung,” you whispered his name and stroke his cheek with your thumb. You had so many things you wanted to tell him but words didn’t form in your mind.

Saeyoung took your hands into his, a frown forming on his lips. “Look…” He struggled with something. You felt that he wanted to say something but didn’t want to. It would hurt you, you figured. “After today… after everyone thanked you…” He took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with you. Your heart sunk. “You probably want to go back to your world.”

_ Oh. _

That you couldn’t argue. You didn’t thought about what would happen after the battle. After victory. Now you thought about it, he was right. You had a home where your mother waited for you. You had a life that you needed to live. You kind of wasted it until now, searching for the missing pieces in your life. Now you found them and you just knew that you needed to go back to make things right. To face the shadows and demons of your own life. Your mother probably missed you dearly. You couldn’t break her heart again.

“That’s- That’s okay,” Saeyoung tried to cheer you up after he saw your broken face, “We all have our place to be. And your place is just… another world.” He looked down to the floor, clearly upset. You knew he couldn’t leave this place. This was his home. This was where his friends lived. Where his brother was. He had the same reasons to stay here as you to return home. You opened your mouth to say something but Saeyoung beat you to it. “Can I ask you for a favour?” You nodded for him to move on. “Can you… help my brother?”

“How?” You would do it right now if you knew how. You only had a sword that can cut through everything. Destroy and take lives. Not repairing and bringing back to life again. Saeyoung looked at loss, too. How could you say no to someone like him? “I will think about a way.”

That brought a smile on his lips. Before he could kiss you again, Jaehee entered your room with a bow. Her cheeks were tinted in hue of pinks, probably embarrassed at the scene she entered. “The king wishes to see you.” She looked uncomfortably to Saeyoung. “Both of you.” At that she turned around and left as fast as she could. Saeyoung and you broke into laughter.

 

Yoosung looked like the throne was made for him. It was bright and sunny inside the court, his innocence seemed to fit in here perfectly. His purple eyes lit up when he spotted you. You squirmed a little under the attention they gave you. Everyone was here. Everyone was happy though. It lifted your spirits.

Yoosung rose from his throne, stepping towards you with open arms. He enveloped you in a tight embrace. You wrapped slowly your own arms around him, feeling the warmth.

“We all want to thank you very much for what you’ve done.” He parted from you, holding you on your shoulders. The others stood behind him, smiling brightly at you. “Without you, we wouldn’t be here right now. You saved us all.” Yoosung bowed slightly his head. “Thank you.”

The tears escaped your eyes, a wide smile forming on your lips. You touched softly Yoosung’s chin, lifting his face. “I need to thank you. All of you.” You laid your hand over your heart, closing your eyes. “I regained my memories of you. I could meet you all again. I could finally see your smiles again. The darkness in me disappeared. I am whole again.” Your eyes fluttered open again. “I found my pieces again. You all are a part of myself that I longed to find again.” This time, you bowed in front of them all. “Thank you.”

You brushed your tears off your face, your expression falling back into blankness. You trained your eyes on the floor, your thoughts wandering back to Saeyoung’s favour. There was one thing left to do. You had to try it. “I want to see him.”

 

Two guards led you and Saeyoung towards a room in the castle. It was highly secured with a lock on the door. You were in awe by the design, flowers and vines adorned the frame. You reached out to touch the vine but Saeyoung caught your hand before.

“The vines have thorns,” he stated. His eyes wandered around the vines, stopping at each and every rose. Blue roses. “My brother has always loved flowers. I think his most favourite one was the lily of the valley.” The flower imprinted on the door, you noticed. Your fingers brushed over artwork, feeling the paint under your tips.

The locks were opened and the door granted you entrance. You took a tentative step in, Saeyoung strides in with a bright face nonetheless. Saeran was standing at the window, looking up and watching the few clouds in the sky. His face looked tired but somewhat peaceful. His aura felt at peace overall. You couldn’t see Ray anywhere.

“Saeran,” Saeyoung called him out. Saeran ignored him, just stared at the fluffy white clouds, moving and changing.

_ “Even though the clouds are changing, taking on new forms, appearing and disappearing… the sky will always remain the same.” _

You remembered him saying this at one point in your childhood. Saeran didn’t talk much when you were around. You hadn’t seen him that often. Probably because of his mother. You were curious about her, seeing her in the sword’s memories. You couldn’t ask him though. You could feel the pain and wounds even in those memories. Maybe later. Maybe never.

“We are here because we want to try something,” Saeyoung tried again. His lips quirked up when Saeran moved his head to look at both of you but they sunk again when he only scoffed.

“I don’t want to be one with that airhead.” His words seemed to hurt Saeyoung since he grimaced at the expression. Saeran leaned against the window frame, looking boredly at his brother. “I am stronger in this state. I don’t want those insecurities in me.”

“But he is a part of you,” Saeyoung said weakly. His expression faltered even more when Saeran grunted in response.

“Don’t you feel like something is missing in you?” You looked sternly at Saeran who seemed to be surprised at your question.

He tilted his head to the left, a bittersweet smile on his lips. “Like you did?”

You nodded and held his gaze, feeling more courageous than before. This was your chance to stand your ground against him. This time, he wouldn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t get the darkness through you. This time, you would bring the light to him. He wouldn’t tear you apart, you would put him together.

Saeran chuckled darkly and turned back to the window, gazing at the clouds longingly. There was something in him that you couldn’t quite grasp. You wanted to reach out and heal his wounds. To shed the light on him. Rescue him like you did with the others.

You did the only thing that came into your mind. You went to him and wrapped your arms around him, pressing your face against his back. He smelled like flowers, he always smelled like them. He was so cold against you. You ignored his gasp or his tries to escape your touch. You ignored his fingers scratching on your skin, clasping hard at your wrists. You held so long until he gave up, until he leaned into the hug. Until you could feel his own hands on yours. You felt something wet dropping on your skin, the sobs he tried to hold in.

“I hate you,” he said weakly.

“No, you don’t,” you responded heartily. “You saved me.”

“That was the rabbit. This stupid rabbit with this stupid crush…” He stopped after he realized his words.

You chuckled and let him go. “You are a rabbit, too.” You motioned up to his bunny ears that were hardly visible. His hand reached up to touch them, relieved that you chose to ignore his last confession. 

Saeyoung laughed in the background, grabbing the attention of both of you. “See! You and Ray are one person after all. I mean, you both are my brother.” Saeyoung’s expression grew softer at his next words. “No matter what happens... you will always be my other half.”

A faint smile formed on Saeran’s face that disappeared as fast as it was there. “A blade can only divide things, not unite,” he said wisely to point out the problem.

He was right. The sword was made to cut through the things. You looked out of the window, the leaves of green trees flowing around. Flowers in many colours danced in the garden. The sun was bright and warm. The world was in balance again. Colourful, melodic. A whole.

Your eyes caught the trace of something red. A thread flowing through the air, shining golden in the sun. A thread. You found your thread, making it part of yourself again. The thread that was the person’s soul. Rika cut through Saeran’s thread, parting him from his reflection. You gasped when an idea came into your mind. “I know what to do,” you told them happily. You just earned a confused look from them.

 

You stood outside together with all of your friends. The sword rested easily in your hands. Your heart hung deep in your chest. It was time. But you didn’t want to. It was time for you to leave Wonderland. You would miss the place. Maybe you could come back one day. Maybe you could visit them from time to time. You didn’t know how, but you would find a way.

You got many farewell hugs, promises of visits. Hopeful words of a meeting again. Jaehee told you to be yourself and work hard for you goals. To never back down because people told you what to do or to be. Zen hugged you tightly and made you promise him to work on your life. To be as happy as he wanted you to be. Jumin wished you to find a friend that you would never let go again. Friends like them that you would never forget. Yoosung thanked you again, holding your hands and smiling brightly. Even when times were hard and there was no escape, you should fight. Fight for those around you. There would always be people who needed your help. It felt difficult to part from them, even when they encouraged you to go back.

The hardest thing was to say goodbye to him. To your sun, your lightbringer. To the golden orbs that brought you the feeling of wonder, awe and love. That made you laugh and dried your tears. You wished for nothing more than to gaze into his eyes for endless hours. To kiss the soft lips until there was no breath left. To be a whole with him.

You turned around, seeing Saeran standing in front of a big mirror. It was one of Zen’s favourite mirrors. He told you to go back home through this one because there were no other mirrors worthy enough for you. You looked back to the others. Saeyoung stepped in front of you, hiding something behind his back.

“I made you something.” He moved his present in front of him, showing you a hat in form of a cat. It was beautiful. The texture was white and soft as fur, the eyes shining blue stones. Her tail was a ribbon with a golden colour. Red cords winded around the ribbon. The hat looked like a dressed up Elizabeth.

“It’s beautiful.” You raised yourself on your tiptoes, planting a soft kiss against Saeyoung’s lips. You took the hat from his hands, setting it on your head. It fitted perfectly.

Saeyoung’s hands found their way around your waist, pulling you towards him. A playful smile graced his lips. “The hat is a magical one.” Your face lit up and you reached out in surprise. He chuckled. “It can detect if you feel depressed and will then talk to you as long as you feel happy again. You can always shut it off when you don’t want to talk, so… yeah.” You pressed another kiss against his lips, grinning up to him.

“It’s perfect! I will always talk to it when I’ll miss you!”

His expression fell and he got upset. His grip tightened around you and he pressed you more into him. His head rested on your shoulders. “I don’t want you to leave,” he admitted in a whisper. Your hands cradled his face, brushing softly over his hair. You planted another kiss on top of his head before pulling out of the embrace.

“I always wondered how you do this,” you tried to change the topic before you would say something you’d eventually regret. “You made me an armour out of nothing.” Saeyoung only chuckled.

The sudden knock on the mirror scared you for a moment. When you turned around, you saw Saeran talking to Ray who was on the other side. Saeran reached his hand out for you, his expression blank. “It’s time.”

You took slowly his hand, your other holding Saeyoung’s. You looked back for a last time, the tears forming in your eyes. Everyone was waving and cheering for you. You promised yourself to return whenever you could.

 

The mirrorworld always gave you the creeps. The white and infinite room, a place where time didn’t exist. Where Yoosung strolled around for years. Where your memories were lost. Where the sword found you. The sword that had always called for you.

“We are a family of creation.” Saeran’s voice grabbed your attention. He stood in front of you, his hands deep in his pockets. “We carry the magic of our ancestors in our veins.”

Ray took out the clock, holding ot in front of you. “They created the clock and the mirrorworld to travel through the realms. Legends say that they created Wonderland.”

Saeyoung took your hand, squeezing. “But our ancestors decided to be a family of hat makers. Special hats. We have the power to form objects with special powers.”

“Like the sword?” You remembered who formed the sword. “Then that means that the dragon…?”

Saeyoung nodded. His voice sounded upset. “There are many possibilities for us. A clock that is the key between worlds. Gloves that transforms objects into other shapes. A hat that veils your identity… a charm that contains souls to feed your immortality.” He sighed heavy.

“My powers aren’t that great. I am the one who can travel through the worlds with the clock,” Ray piped up, “I can use the threads of this world… but nothing more.”

“I have sworn to never use my powers,” Saeyoung admitted. He looked down at his gloves and the sword. “The Jabberwocky had abused the magic for dark things and I don’t want that to happen again. Things like the swords or the charm are too dangerous for the good.”

You reached out and took his hand. You squeezed it, smiling up to him. “I am sure that both of you will protect your powers and use them for good. You cannot turn your back on your legacy. It is something special you need to embrace.” Like you needed to embrace the prophecy. There were always things people needed to do, whether they wanted to or not. It required a whole lot of courage to do so but in the end it was worth it.

You lifted up your hand, feeling the thread playing around your fingers. You listened for the right one, winding it around the sword. You felt it, the colour was different. You opened your eyes, seeing the magenta thread winding around your arm, tugging you towards its other half. You turned around and saw Saeran and Ray standing next to each other, their face open with vulnerability. You pointed your sword towards them but let go of it. Instead you reached out for both hands, feeling the connection flowing through your veins. A light enveloped you, blinding you for a few seconds. The light vanished and soon you felt arms around you, pressing you hard against their body.

Your eyes fluttered open, seeing Saeran smiling faintly at you. There was only one of him. He cradled your hand between his palms, pressing his lips against your forehead. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“H-Hey!” Saeyoung suddenly jumped between you, tearing you off from Saeran with a pout. “This is my woman!” You blushed hardly at his words, then laughing at Saeran’s dumbfounded expression.

Saeran only huffed and looked away. He stood up, watching you and Saeyoung on the floor, straightening his clothes. “I-I’ll give you time before I open the mirror on the other side.” With that he vanished into thin air.

Saeyoung pressed you harder against him, the silence upsetting. You felt the tears slipping from your face. You didn’t want to go but you had to. It was harder than you thought, than you wanted to. Your heart belonged to him, no matter where he was. No matter which world he lived in. You wouldn’t find your other half anywhere else. He was your other half. He was the last piece of the puzzle.

“I love you.”

Saeyoung’s body went rigid after you said your words. You didn’t regret it. You wanted to tell him so many things. You wanted to tell him how dark your world was. How the music would always play a sad tune, a nocturne no matter the time of the day. You wanted to tell him how you could feel colours again. Like you could touch the rainbow. How the music was happy again. How you could feel your thread dancing and flowing around. How bright he made your day. You wanted to tell him about the sun he was for you. About his golden eyes. About his red hair. You longed so much for him. So long. You didn’t want to let go. He was everything.

“I love you, too.”

The words made your heart to soar high. It knocked the breath out of your lungs. You needed to... You needed to catch his lips. Kiss him. You took his face, crashing your lips together like he was the air you needed to breathe in. It felt so good. His lips were too good. Sweet as honey, melting you away. Your veins were filled with sugar, like a drug making you high.

“Don’t leave me,” he gasped between hot kisses. Urgent. Longing.

“Come with me,” you pleaded. He stopped. You tried to kiss him again but he stopped you.

He was still for seconds, time ticked by but time didn’t exist here; before he leaned forward, a kiss softer than before. Full with love. A kiss whose meaning wrenched your heart. That brought you back to reality. This was a good-bye. A farewell. A last kiss so bitter and sweet.

“You know I can’t stay with you.”

You swallowed your sobs, the tears falling down silently. His thumbs brushed them off but new ones formed again. You wanted to be happy.

“Will we see each other again?”

“Promised.”

You stood up, helping him up, too. A last longing kiss, a last gaze into beautiful eyes. Your name so sweet on his lips. You let his hand go, feeling another warm hand wrapping around your wrist. He was pulling you away from him. You let him do it. A last word. A last good-bye. So sweet and so bitter.

“I will never forget you again, Saeyoung. Promised!”

 

You found yourself in your room again. It felt so empty and cold. The walls were blank and the room dark. You felt nothing. You felt nothing in your heart. Like it was torn apart?

Warm hands laid on your shoulders, trying to cheer you up. Another good-bye. A last one. You looked up into mint-green eyes. You weren’t scared anymore. They weren’t wrong anymore. They were whole again. Your fingers brushed against his cheek, cradling it in your palms. The moon shone through the window, the room bright due to a mysterious light. His other half. Was he your other half, too? 

He took your hands in his, pulling it away from his face. A smile playing around his lips. A thank you. Maybe you brought light back into his life. Maybe not. But you could catch a glimpse of happiness in his eyes. “Farewell, little rabbit.”

“Farewell,” he whispered back, your name rolling from his lips like it was always meant to be. He walked back into the mirror, vanishing into it bit by bit. His hand didn’t let go of yours, until your tips touched the surface. He was behind it, your palms pressed against your reflection. It was just a reflection, nothing more.

The door behind you opened all the sudden. You turned around, seeing your mother there, tearing up. You ran towards her open arms, both of you crying.

“Mother,” you sobbed, “I am so sorry for everything. I will do everything right from now on. I will move forward. I won’t be the crazy girl anymore. I’ll be the daughter you want me to be. I promise!”

Your mother brushed through your hair, planting a kiss on top of your hair. “But I like you how you are, my little angel. I like my bright and happy daughter who always tells me tales from a wonderful land.”

You sniffed in her arms, a smile forming again on your lips. “I love you, mum.”

“I love you too, Alice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my story! Thank you for reading!


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